RWBY: A Beacon of Hope
by SpanishBulldog63
Summary: Everyone sees the life of the Huntsman as one of glory and dreams, but not many realize the trials they went through along the way. Orion Arguros sees his acceptance into Beacon as a new start...but sometimes new starts come with new complications. Follow Team ONAX and company in this RWBY AU as they deal with classes, work, romance, and fighting for their very lives!
1. The Mauler

Prologue: Silver Trailer

"_The stars shine on as hopes and dreams to some, but for others…they shine as so much more."_

A silver jacket swayed in the breeze, covering a kneeling figure in the graveyard. One didn't have to be next to the silver-haired young man to know he was saying perhaps his last goodbye to loved ones. His face was like that of a charming young athlete, with the exception of a jagged scar that ran from his right brow to just above a black mustache. With a final sob he rose up to his feet, breathing in the cool breeze around him and feeling it blow over his round, furry ears. With the wind calming, his jacket rested to show a symbol of a bear paw and two ax-blades connected by a three-dotted line. Underneath it was nothing but a simple black wife-beater, partly exposing two tattoos on his chest; over the heart was bear paw with red slashes under the claws, and on the right was a howling wolf outlined by the shattered moon of Remnant. Today was the day the airships arrived to pick up the next wave of Beacon students, so he began his trek through the gold-hued forest to get to the docks.

Every step rang of crunching leaves and twigs, a giveaway to any Grimm. That's when he noticed a tree up ahead scarred with markings and raced to get a closer look; some Grimm in these woods were very territorial, especially the owl-like Strix or devilish Leedsons. He shuddered at the thought of the latter and readied his gauntlets, just in case. Looking around as he continued pushing through the forestry, he saw that the marking continued its presence for several acres until finally there were none. His ears continued to hear the crunching of the underbrush until he heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked.

"That's far enough, mate," a deep, cockney voice called out from behind him as it continued, "Well look over here gents; we got ourselves another catch today!"

The jacketed young man then saw people making their way out from behind the trees in front of him. He counted at least twenty men, all armed with various weapons. 'Oh joy, thieves,' the loner thought flatly. One of the other men, a rat faunus armed with what looked like a machete/shotgun, piped up.

"Check his pockets for anything valuable, boss. Who knows what he's got in there?"

"Peter, do you always have to think small? He's got Dust around his belt, and he's armed. Those weapons would fetch a mighty nice price!" The leader scolded. His crew then started arguing about how much they were worth, and that's when the fuzzy pair of ears on the young man's head flattened. He slowly turned towards the thief-in-charge…he'd had enough.

"You guys want my gauntlets, eh?" he asked calmly.

The boss, a gorilla faunus holding a bulky assault rifle, simply nodded with the enthusiasm of a child, big grin and everything, He wasn't grinning for long though, as the bear-boy in front of him clocked him in the gut with an uppercut that sent him straight into the trees above. Turning his head, he could see the others charging at him with their weapons at the ready and he simply smirked.

"Well that's just too damned bad!" he smirked as he cracked his neck and ran towards the marauders. As the nearest one swung his broadsword, the shorter man parried with the blade on his gauntlet and planted the other in his jaw, satisfied with the crunching sound of shattered bone. Grabbing the agonized man, he threw him into two of his cohorts and delivered hooks and crosses to their exposed midsections before grabbing them by the skulls and slamming them face-first into the nearest tree. Turning to his left, he saw a pair of sai aiming towards his head and ducked as he kicked the goon's knee in, sending him flying into his companions with a second kick to the ribs.

Another squad of goons charged in behind one with a lance. Raising and aiming his fists at the lancer, he pressed on the exposed buttons under his index fingers, firing the cable-attached blades from their polls on his gauntlets and catching the lancer around the legs. With a tug of his arms he dragged the man down and began swinging him around like a meat flail at his fellow thieves. Swinging and hearing satisfying cracks after thuds after yelps, he released one cable and reeled in the other to land a vicious left hook and knock the lancer out. Reeling the second blade in, he looked around the area for signs of any more of the group. Nothing but twitching or unconscious would-be-thieves scattered amongst the forest.

"Are we done here?" he mocked, spreading his arms out with an air of irritation. He got his reply in the form of gunfire from the leaves above, dodging out of the cloud of bullets behind another tree.

"Ah, so you wanna play that game, eh?" he continued to jest as brought his gauntlets together, combining them into a bladed-crossbow, "Alright, let's play!"

The loner peeked around the corner and was quickly greeted with a hail of bullets. He hit the dust-cycle trigger and selected fire dust. 'They want to play hide-and-seek? That's adorable!' he thought in amusement. Leaping from cover, he went for automatic and sprayed the trees ahead of him with the explosive Dust-headed bolts. One by one the trees and surrounding bushes blew apart and scattered the band of thieves. He couldn't help but notice that someone was miss-

Chu-chunk-POW!

Leave it to the rat to sneak his way away from the fight and attempt to shoot the young traveler in the back. But the second his hand slid the shotgun's pump, the bear faunus dived for cover. Poking his head out, he could see the one named Pete was downright terrified.

"So Peter, how's your guys' health plans?" he asked, storming from cover to pulverize the bandit. The rat faunus yelled a mixedcry of desperation and ire as he unloaded every Dust-shell he could with terrible accuracy, either being blocked by the crossbow's bladed limbs or shot down by responding, semblance-aided bolts as the bear neared with cruel intent.

"Apparently it's great!" he shouted, swinging the front of his weapon to smack down the now-machete and simultaneously ramming the stock into the coward's face. But he didn't stop there as he threw an elbow into the rat's skull and dropped him like a stone. Bringing the butt-stock back up, the bear repeatedly slammed it into his face until he was a swollen, bruised lump with eyes. He felt himself getting deeply angered, both because of this "hold-up" and because this fight definitely grabbed the unwanted attention of any local Grimm.

Taking a moment to compose himself, he mused aloud to himself, "Now where was I? Oh right, the airship docks! Hopefully I'm not too-"

WHACK

The bear faunus had been blindsided, his aura thankfully dulling most of the damage but it still hurt like hell. Looking in the direction the hit came from, he could see now that it was the ringleader, a morning star spinning in his hand for a second strike that connected as the bear was hazing in and out of control of his growing anger; now was not a good time to lose it and have his semblance ineffective.

"You're going to pay for this, you little shit-stain!" he roared as he began his assault swinging and connecting once more. But he didn't notice the silver gleam radiating from the young man's raging eyes. Thanks to his semblance, the young man refocused and could see that his hulking enemy was going for a backhand followed by another downward swipe of his morning-star by the way his feet and arms were positioning and the way the weapon was held …and he had just the counter. He hit the form-shift trigger, his crossbow changing into the form of a mighty ax; the Arktouros of his father's days.

As the chain began its arc, so did the effect of his hyperkinetic semblance. He pressed the trigger above the upper grip and spun the cylinder to Lightning Dust. He caught the man's bulky wrist, squeezing to hear him shout in pain swept before spinning him towards him and knocking the poorly-held weapons from his hand. Without a second's thought, he swept the brute's legs from underneath him and slammed his weapon down on his chest to plant him firmly into to the ground…all in almost one fluid movement.

But it was too late for the loner; the anger he had tried penning up had burst forth from his control and his eyes hazed with silver. As his foe twitched with sparks of electricity dancing around his body, the bear pounced on him, bringing Arktouros back to gauntlet form and pounding the giant thief into a screaming, bloody pulp. After a few seconds, his ears twitched at the sound of rustling wings and a very pungent smell, bringing him back from his malicious frenzy. He knew what was here, and he needed to leave yesterday.

"Why don't you just kill me?" coughed up the leader.

"Because I have an airship to catch, and you lot have a new guest who's _starving_ for your attention," he growled in regained composure, and quickly dashed from the scene.

All his ears could hear were the scream-like roars of the Leedson, and the howls of terror from the bandit leader. Their echoes and the tombstones of his brother and mother reminded him of one thing as he tore through the golden forest: what comes around goes around, and when the time comes, he'll be ready for it.

**Introducing the Mauler**


	2. The Guardian

Maroon Trailer

"_The past molds us into who we become in the future. But sometimes in the process it leaves a scar that can't always be healed."_

Cannon fire, deathly screams, vicious growls, and the clangs of claws meeting weapons….

That was all the armor-clad girl could hear, her eyes cloudy as she came to; an explosion had hit the wall she was resting on, sending her flying out the window. Looking around, she could see Beowolves, Ursae, and a small herd of Boarbatusks tearing through the town as her people fought back as best as they could. Grabbing her flame-painted rifle The Rapid Fire amidst all of the glass and debris, she stormed to the nearest Grimm and made her presence known.

The black, werewolf-like Beowolf never stood a chance; she leaped onto its shoulders and brought her weapon up to its skull, peppering the white armor around its head with holes. As the Beowolf fell with a final howl, she slammed her rifle into the face of the next attacker, a Boarbatusk, and shot it in the eyes. The armored beast didn't know what hit it, as the next second it was flipped on its back and exposing the now shot-to-hell underbelly. Her attention then turned to a tussle between one of the town guards and an Ursa Minor.

"Marian! Take their attention away from the people and kill as many as you can! Beacon's sending team JSPR to give us a hand!" shouted the guardsman, swinging his pudao and slicing a deep wound in the monster's chest. The monstrous, bear-shaped Grimm swiped the man down with renewed fury, paying little attention to the muzzle thrust up in its jaw. With a pull of the trigger, she decapitated the beast as a flurry of rounds severed separated its skull from the neck.

"ON IT!" she yelled, eyeing the shelter that was slowly becoming targeted by the nightmarish beasts as she leapt down into the fray. She ran through the street peppering some of the Grimm in bullets and smothering the others in her rifle's flamethrower. But she needed to put these bastards down faster, and her comrades needed help keeping the shelter secure. Marian hit the shift trigger, splitting The Rapid Fire into two halves; one half being a black shield with a gun muzzle sticking out from under her symbol, and the other half being a fiery machete. Any Grimm on the straight road to the haven were either cut down mercilessly or blown apart by her shield-gun until she joined her fellow defenders at the shelter.

"All fighters form a line on both sides of the doorway; funnel the civilians in to the shelter, and hold the Grimm at the line. Those of you at the front, guard the street. Let none live!" she barked, her machete at the ready as all fighters rallied together for the fight. As if on cue, a slew of Grimm rushed the locals from both sides, bodies seen crumpled and mangled behind them. The protective girl made a leaping save for a woman on her left who was occupied with a Boarbatusk, bisecting a large Beowolf in midair. The grateful woman next to her finally hooked her falx around the warthog-like beast's neck and sliced it's head clean off.

She was about thank the defender for the save until she shouted, "Watch out!", bringing the girl's attention to a stray Ursa Minor charging from behind her. Swinging Rapid Fire's shield, the young woman slammed it into her foe's face, dazing the now-pissed Grimm before it backhanded her down. Swinging the fiery machete, she caught its paw and swiftly amputated it before firing her gun through its roaring maw, a smoking hole giving her a view behind the Ursa.

The sounds of battle raged on around her, many a Grimm and guard falling, However, She could see through the haze emanating from Grimm's dissipating corpses that they were winning. But they were also exhausted and some were low on ammo and dust.

"'Where's JSPR at?" she growled, hacking and blasting into another Beowolf. They could only keep this up for so long. That's when she saw the Bullhead flying full-throttle over to their war-torn town, flashes of gunfire from both sides taking down what Grimm they could. But as fate would have it, their VTOL never got a proper landing as a Nevermore slammed into it, it's face and neck getting blasted apart by the occupants as a strange flail stabbed it in the throat to keep it there. The warring students inside managed to kill the giant raven-creature, but not before the Bullhead lost control and spiraled into the rooftops.

But then she and her fellow fighters heard it in the aftermath; the bellowing roar of an Ursa Major. Sure enough the enormous, armored beast was rounding the corner and eyeing her from the other side of the road. But this wasn't any other Ursa Major by any stretch, at least to her. She recognized this one by its missing eye and shattered back spikes, a storm of memories and emotion surging within…

_The bakery shattered, her lifeless body crumpled in the street, those beautiful golden eyes devoid of her ever-present sparkle_ …her lovely golden eyes...Natalie's eyes. The guardswoman felt her eyes swell with water, and fought back her tears as she gripped her weapons. _All those plans we had…the adventures, the sights, come whatever may_…She could hear her captain's voice in the hospital ringing in her head, when she felt like a part of her died.

"_She's gone Marian. What are you going to do now? Give up and mope for the rest of your days? No; you need to use it." …the memory of an injured Ursa Major retreating back to the woodland as she held her love in her arms, eyes burning like wildfire._

"You," she snarled venomously through gritted teeth, then turned to her comrades and said, "You guys stay here and keep the shelter secured… the Major is mine."

"_Use it."_

"Are you sure-"a boy no older than her asked astounded, only for a piercing glare to cut him off. "Alright, alright, I get it! Everyone keep your positions; do not break off to engage the Ursa Major! We need to keep this shelter secured!" he hastily ordered the others, reloading the magazines to his tonfa-guns.

Walking down the beaten and bloody path, the armored girl clenched her weapons tighter and tighter as she and her enemy got closer and closer until both broke into a full charge. At the last second, she slid under the leaping beast, engaging her semblance and becoming encased in an almost fiery, aura-enhanced armor. Turning to face each other once more, the Major stood full upright, towering over her in dark menace and stabbed an armored paw forward only for it glance off her shield and disembowel the road. The beast was quick though, and batted her down with its free paw as she jumped off its other arm for a strike.

The Red Knight leapt to her feet, her machete now blazing like an inferno as she slashed it across the neck and chest, earning howls of pain from the Ursa. The enraged Grimm and the Red Knight charged and collided into each other, the latter thrusting her shield into its gut and emptying her entire clip into its chest, blowing holes threw its back and scattering bone-white armor and spikes everywhere. With a roar of agony, the Ursa Major slammed both paws down on the warrior and planted her into the ground. Before she could get back to her feet, another set of claws smashed into her side and batted her across the street. Struggling to a knee, Marian could see her wounded adversary grunting as it charged to her position.

"_USE IT!"_

"You took her from me, everything I ever wanted…everything I'd hoped for in life… gone," she seethed as Marian turned up the heat on her machete and the Major made one final, roaring bound at her.

"Allow me to return the favor!" she continued, shouting in fury as her blade cut through its left arm and dug itself into the thick-plated skull, the impact spiking the beast to the ground.

"Impressive kill there, young lady," called voice from behind her. Pulling her blade free, Marian turned to see five individuals standing no more than a few yards away, 4 young men armed to the teeth, and an older, silver-haired man with a cane. One of who she assumed was team JSPR, a tall boy clad in formal clothing, walked up to her and greeted her with a nod before sauntering to the Ursa Major's corpse saying something about 'checking for a pulse.' She made her way for the older man, disengaging her semblance and holstering The Rapid Fire. Removing her reddish-hued helmet to reveal flowing black hair with white streaks on the sides, the guardian bowed her head before extending a hand to the man and each of team JSPR.

"Hello sir, my name is Marian Alexander. I just wanted to say thank you to you and JSPR for aiding us, "she said with fatigue.

"Marian Alexander," he seemed to echo, "Your captain spoke very highly of you and your skills on our way here. He actually recommended you to my school in our conversation."

Marian was taken slightly aback. "He did…Wait, _your_ school?" she paused in realization of who she was talking to. "You're Professor Ozpin!"

The man smiled and continued. "Yes, and after what I had just witnessed, I can see why…Miss Alexander, do you want to come to Beacon?"

BOOM-BOOM

Everyone turned to look over at the uniformed boy named Jameson to see his weapon smoking and and giant chunks blown out of the dissolving Ursa Major's body. The marksman simply shrugged.

"No pulse."

**Introducing the Guardian**


	3. The Runaway

Sienna Trailer

_"The ultimate gift is the gift of life. The ultimate curse is to have never lived it."_

A lone girl sat at the pier side, the ocean breeze caressing her face like a cold yet caring hand while blowing her tan cloak and skirt gently behind her. The sun was beginning to set, and she had a long trip ahead of her tomorrow morning. As much as much as she would love to sit here and embrace the freedom away from her overbearing family, she knew she owed them the goodbyes they deserved. They'd given her more than she could ask for, including the pride and joy she had gotten from her father, the Viper arm-sword. But at the same time, they never really let her live her life; even at Signal they somehow kept tabs on her, never hesitating to slam her for anything they didn't like over her scroll. As an only child, she had no one to really turn to and most of her friends were really just trying to use her for their own gain with her family for free weapons, maintenance, and even discounts.

With a final glance at the reflective waters, she sighed deeply, "Thank Monty for getting into Beacon," and set off on her long walk home. There would be more than enough sunlight left until she got home, but it still would have been nice if her few true friends hadn't left her behind. 'Not like Sangre hasn't seen a rise in crime lately or anything' she thought in annoyance.

The cloaked girl made her way through town, her mind wandering away from her friends and family and towards her excitement of getting accepted into Beacon. The thought that she was finally on her way to fulfilling her dream of becoming a Huntress was pure bliss to her. A life of her own, no controlling parents watching her every move, new friends…

Something down the road caught her eye in the fading light; there was a semi-truck, its emergency lights flashing and no sign of the driver in or near the cab. Squinting, she could see a pair of tires belonging to a smaller truck behind it…and a number of feet moving back forth between the vehicles.

"What the Dust is going on over there?" she muttered to herself. That's when she saw the logo on the side of the truck… a trio of overlapping triangles.

It was one of her family's business trucks, likely heading back to the main plant to bring the newest shipment of Dust from the Williams quarry and some weapon parts from business partners. While they weren't as big as the Schnee Dust Company, the Williams Corporation lacked the severe scrutiny and high-and-mighty attitude of their Atlas-based rivals. However, the hooded girl had heard slightly conflicting stories about their internal affairs regarding the heirs, namely the younger brother named Vert. But right now, she was more concerned about who would dare a sneak attack and what they planned on doing with the shipment. Readying her arm-sword, Xienna snuck in as quietly as she could and took cover in a bush just a few yards away.

A questioning voice called out from the boarding truck. "Miss Ashcroft, we're running out of room in the truck! Are you sure we need to grab [i]all[/i] of the crates?" Turning her gaze to it, she could make out the attire of the thieves: their suits, hats, and pants were all black save for the red ties and sunglasses. Those who weren't holding an automatic rifle or pistol wielded red axes or katanas.

A woman not much older than the sneaking girl appeared from the bed of the delivery truck, one hand holding onto the vehicle and the other gripping the hilt of a vicious-looking sword. She appeared to be wearing the same getup as the men around her minus the purple corset, black coat, and heels.

"No, I just want pick through the crates and leave behind evidence that we were here! I didn't pay Junior for idiots, so unless you want to be the Malachite twins' new 'sparring dummy'," the man on the receiving end of this paled as she snidely scolded him, " I suggest you shut the hell up and figure it out. Play Tetris with the boxes or ride outside the damn truck if you have too, but I have a schedule to keep so shut your mouth and load the truck!"

The grunt caved and would've continued had a blur of brown not slammed into his skull. With a dull thud, his cohorts swiftly raised their weapons and looked around for their attacker. The dying light made it harder to see, but they were certain they weren't the only ones around here. That's when one was swiftly disarmed of his axe and throat-punched; the momentum of the hit sending him careening into the raided truck. It was at this moment the speedster knew she made an error in her strike when a feminine growl echoed from within.

The Ashcroft girl poked her head out once more to yell at the henchmen "What are you doing _this_ time, Hayes..." she stopped and stood slack-jawed as she witnessed her newly hired thugs fighting with the air…and losing?! Something wasn't right as crony after crony continued to get thrown and pummeled, the wind fighting like a trained huntsman. Hayes, the better trained of the bunch although that was not saying much, finally landed in a heap in front of her with a bright red hand where he'd been slapped silly.

That's when she saw the cloak and daggers for a brief moment.

"Gotcha," she snickered with a cruel smile. Unsheathing her own sword Nocturne, Blitz waited for the right moment to jump from the truck, and jam it into the ground, creating an electric shockwave that knocked the opposing young girl off her feet with force. Yanking Nocturne from the ground, the criminal bared down on the fallen girl with every intention of ending her little hero act.

"Now that you're staying still, you won't mind as I filet you like a fish, would you?" she said with an air of mockery while the smaller girl rose to a knee, attempting to catch her breath. The larger girl closed in, her weapon ready to hack and slash through the intruder…and then stared in amusement as she zipped away in a cloud of dust.

"Girl's got guts…but no sense of surprise" she smirked and, as if on cue, blocked a telegraphed swipe from her right. She was proven wrong though, as a knee swirled up and nailed her right in the temple followed by a blur of an elbow to the sternum. Swinging her blade wildly to create some breathing room, Blitz attempted to jump back on the offensive as the other girl back-flipped away.

Xienna, being the agitating hit-and-run fighter she is, could see that her foe was quickly losing her nerves. Her attacks were growing more and more frenzied, each swing more uncontrolled than the last. Xienna waited for the right opening and got it when a manic, upward swipe of Nocturne left her foe open to a speed-aided tackle that sent the pair skidding twenty feet. Looking up, the enigma could see a dagger to her throat and a piercing glare from the little speedster.

Xienna snarled through clenched teeth, "Surprise, bitch."

But a whirring sound brought her to a quick realization: she made the careless mistake of leaving her foe armed. She leaped back just in time as a blast of Burn Dust from Nocturne's railgun burst from where her chest used to be. Before she knew it, a second round was inbound and she used her semblance at the last moment, but not without the force of the blast knocking her into a crate.

"You've been a real thorn in my side tonight, little girl. Maybe this heist will require a casualty after all," the Marauder growled as she put the barrel of her gun to the Speedster's chin. But sirens and lights flashing in the distance put her to a halt as the Sangre police were en route to the scene.

Turning to the man with the large, hand-shaped welt on his face, she screamed, "Hayes, NOW!"

The only goon to be devoid of red in his black attire leaped to the fray, swinging his arms out to create a fog all around the area. The speedy girl had reengaged Blitz, her Viper locked with the larger, stronger girl's Nocturne until the fog washed over them both. Within seconds, Xienna couldn't sense anything; her vision, hearing, and smell felt like static...even tasting the air left a fuzzy sensation through her tongue. The only thing she could make out was two forms, one encased in a violent blue glow, before they flashed away like a bolt of lightning. She felt everything spinning around her, and then…

"FREEZE!"

As she stood with her hands raised shakily, a familiar voice rang out, "DON'T SHOOT! That's my daughter!"

Xienna blinked to clear her eyes of the miasma only to see the Sangre Police bearing down on her and her father trying to talk them down.

"D-Dad? What're you doing here?" she slurred as all sensation in her body started coming back. Looking around, there was no sign of the second truck. "Where's the other truck? Where's Ashcroft?"

"I came to see what happened to the last delivery for the evening, but I didn't expect to find you here let alone surrounded by thugs. Thankfully the driver's ok, albeit slightly battered," He paused, his expression changing from that of concern to one of anger, failing to notice her last question. "I should have known better than to think you'd stay out of trouble. The few times we let you go out with friends, and this is what happens?"

"What? What are you talking about?!"

"You would think after all your mother and I have given you, after all we've done, you would stay home and forget this dream of being a huntress! Don't get me wrong, your mother and I are proud that you graduated from Signal and got accepted into Beacon, but you have everything you could want and more at home! Why not just stay and work with the family instead of trying to play the hero?"

Xienna looked like she had been slapped across the face. All of the hard work and competition she faced trying to stay among the top of her class was nothing to them. To see that all of that training and dedication put to use to save an employee brushed aside so easily made her blood boil. Everything she strived for, everything she truly wanted…all for naught in their eyes. Her eyes welled with tears as she realized that there was only one thing to do to make them see.

"Come home, Xi. Come home and we'll talk about it in the morning," her father pleaded, extending a hand to his daughter. But she slapped it away with a fury he'd never seen nor expected.

With a cracked voice she told him, "No. Tell mother I say…Goodbye," before leaving a cloud of dust in her wake as she ran as fast as she could with her remaining aura. Maybe…just maybe, one day they will see that she deserves to live her own life. One day, they'll see that she can truly be a Huntress.

One day.

**Introducing the Runaway**

* * *

**Author's Note: And now we are 3/4 through our introductions, and with it is the presence of the enigma Blitz Ashcroft (courtesy of my friend on TohoKingdom, NSZ...Not-Safe-Zone for those on Deviantart). Also, after finally figuring out how to do the author's note, I'd like to say thank you to those following this story and hold onto your butts...things will be picking up with the next trailer! **

**That being said, thank-you notes for the reviewer(s) :)**

**+ThePhantomScribe: Thank you for the review! The fun thing with OC's is brand new storylines, brand new/different interactions with other characters. And with ONAX almost done, the school year's ready to kick off!**


	4. The Rebel

Blue Trailer

_"It's not the beginning nor the end that make a journey great, but everything in between."_

A cool breeze swept across the boat, blowing a lock of navy blue hair across the shoulders of a 6ft, medium-built young man as he made way to Vale from an island off the coast of Vacuo. The wind could only blow so much of his blue coat thanks to the grey armor adorning his chest, shoulders, and wrists, held fast by a darker blue belt over grey pants. Only another day worth of travel and he'll have reached the kingdom's mainland. His teal eyes were gleaming with thought as he eyed the waters around him, his mind wandering on what both the future, and the deceivingly calm waters around him, held in store. His record in the homeland may not have been the best, and his reputation with the law held in the same regard, but he hoped that nothing would be held against him. From what he understood, Beacon's headmaster was far from judgmental but Nemo could only hope the sins of Tocsin didn't follow him.

Looking towards the stern of the boat, everything remained calm with the exception of the wake behind him. Something seemed off, but he couldn't put his finger on what. He gripped the hilt of his scimitar Nautilus tightly, examining the surroundings thoroughly. The traveler knew well enough that, however many Grimm were unknown on land, there was at least double those numbers in the depths of Remnant's oceans. His spine shivered slightly at the thoughts of Jormungants, Melvillae, and other known horrors of the deep not only because of the stories that come from seafaring Huntsmen, but because the Grimm weren't the only creatures down there to bring such tales. Thankfully his family had sailed the seas of Vacuo and Atlas for generations, and none have encountered such beasts…to his knowledge, at least.

"Let's just hope the lucky streak continues," the boy muttered to himself as he set the Illiad to autopilot for some rest. Daylight was fading, and he could only stay awake for so long. He set himself down on the crimson mattress just a few feet away from the control panel, and almost instantly found himself in dream land.

* * *

_A flurry of images raced across his lids like an old movie projected in a dim theatre…_

_A dark night covered the coastal city of Tocsin, Its downtown area lit up by a few open shops and streetlights whose luminous glows danced with the shadows of locals. The fractured moon's reflection dancing across the sea as Nemo looked on in thought from the nearby docks…but a familiar scream of help from downtown echoed to his ears._

_"Hey, get back here with that! Someone stop that faunus!"_

_Scanning the shadows until he laid eyes on the runner and their waving tail, Nemo leaped from his perch to give chase. He knew these streets well, taking every possible shortcut to cut off the thief and right the wrong. He may not be an officer, not that they'd take him in with open arms anyway, but someone needed to do something. The police were either too slow to handle some things or turned a blind eye in his eyes, and this got him in trouble more times than he could count. By now he was on an intersect course with his target and got a good look of his features; blonde, scruffy hair, a pair of red bracers, an open white button-up, and a long blonde tail ._

_But like every other time this memory creeped into his dreams, the movie chopped from image to image at this point. The sailor could feel himself tossing and turning like an autumnal storm._

_An old, abandoned-looking house in the wrong side of town_

_Catching up to the monkey-faunus only for him to throw garbage cans at him…_

_The door closing in before he could grab him…_

_Ramming into the door furiously…_

_A light suddenly flashed in his face, lighting up the interrogation room like a flare in a cave. Two officers stood in the corners of the wall by the door, glaring like wolves until a knock came from the door._

_"Ms. Goodwitch would like to speak with you."_

* * *

THUD

The rebel was jolted awake as something collided with the boat. The last time something hit his boat, the Atlesian Coast Guard wanted him for questioning in regards to the death of a local crime figure. But this didn't sound or feel like a boat; no, this felt a lot more-

THUD

ARRRIIIIISHHH

"Grimm."

Slowing the engines to a crawl and rushing to the starboard quarter, the boy scanned the early-morning waters quickly for any signs of whatever beast hit his vessel. That's when a pitch-black hump with white spines broke the surface…and then another, and another, until a white head full of teeth broke the surface and reared back just feet from the boat. The serpentine Jormungant rose until it was at least 40 feet above the bridge, finally opening its four beaming red eyes, all focused on the Illiad and it's captain as it hissed a challenge. The blue-haired sailor pulled out his scimitar, returning the hiss by defiantly shouting, "Bring it on!"

The Jormungant lunged down like a cobra on a mouse, aiming to kill its prey with the first strike, but this was no mouse by any means. Nemo jumped over the Grimm's maw and grabbed it by one of the many spines atop its head, slashing it across the face and neck while pulling an open wound in an attempt to make the beast veer away from his boat. Amazingly it worked, but now the beast thrashed to throw him off and into the water. If that wasn't bad enough, the waves were beginning to send the boat the other direction.

Thinking fast, Nemo timed a jump off of its snout and activated his semblance, aiming his free hand down and creating a whirlwind beneath him to cushion his fall. Failing to skip a beat, he set the engine output to the maximum before returning to portside and eyeing the waters to see if his foe kept pursuit. Sure enough, the spiny hump viciously looping in and out of the water just a few yards behind confirmed that the serpentine Grimm was not about to give up so easily. Hitting the mech-shift trigger, he transformed Nautilus into its double-barreled shotgun form and took aim; the scimitar's handle popped out the trigger and bent to make room to attach to the out-folding stock, and the blade split to reveal twin barrels, the point of the scimitar sitting firmly below and between the barrels like a cruel bayonet.

"You want a free meal, eh? Well come and get it!" the boy shouted in mockery, hoping to lure the beast for the right shot. The nightmarish beast surged forward with its jaws gaping wide enough to bite the Illiad's rear in half. Instead of meeting flesh and metal however, it was fed a steady stream of shotgun shells as both barrels pumped round after round into its mouth. The toothy jaws released an agonizing scream loud enough to shake the air around them, forcing him to his knees as his eardrums shook to the point of bursting. Seizing the opportunity, the recovered Jormungant heaved itself, fins and all, out of the water in an attempt to completely submerge its prey.

But Nemo, still dazed and pained from the scream, had managed to make it to one leg when the aquatic Grimm made its move. Channeling as much aura as he could, the rebellious fighter used his semblance to push a stream of wind through his hand and launch himself at the Jormungant. Thrusting, Nautilus forward, he put as much power as he could in the stream and with a sickening SPLURCH, he popped out of the back of the serpent. Focusing his wind semblance upwards, Nemo planted a kick down on its skull and used another stream of wind to land back on the boat. The sound of splashing and a wounded growl alerted him to a white, bony-armored head collapsing on the stern and quickly threatening to sink the Illiad.

"Okay, this was fun at first, but now," an irritated Nemo growled as he walked up to the Jormungant and sank the bayonet between the left pair of eyes and snarled "Smile, you son of a bitch!"

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP

One pull of the trigger and four shots later and an explosion of meat and bone tore through the other side of the beast's head. Without hesitation, the blue-haired fighter kicked the dissolving corpse off of his blade and boat with a black boot, holstered his scimitar, and made his way back to the bridge to restart the engines. As he made his way back to his bed, he paused and stared into the distance at the visible green light gleaming from a tall, grey tower. Lying back down on his mattress, he gazed out of the window at the light and began to drift back into sleep with a smile.

"Almost there."

* * *

_A spectacled, older woman walked through the doorway between the officers. From what Nemo could see, she wore her hair in bun with a curl down the right side of her face, teal earrings, and a tattered cape. As she moved closer to the light, he spotted turquoise earrings, and saw that the rest of her attire consisted of a white long-sleeved suit with puffy sleeves that were tight at the wrist before spreading back out near her hands and a buttoned black business skirt._

_"Hello ma'am._

_She returned the greeting with a curt nod and replied, "Mr. Outisseus, or do you prefer the moniker, 'Nobody'?"_

_The young man shifted uneasily at the name and the steely tone behind it, which she no doubt noticed as she continued, "While your application has been looked over during the acceptance process, we also had our eyes on you through your criminal record and the reports of local Huntsmens and Huntresses. While I myself do not condone vigilantism and law-breaking for any reason, your actions seemed to have impressed the Headmaster enough to ignore my advice of turning down your application despite your impressive transcript."_

_At this, the young man's downcast demeanor had perked up and immediately asked "Wait, are you telling me that, disregarding the things I've done, I'm-"_

_Ms. Goodwitch cut him off and confirmed with a huff, "Welcome to Beacon, Mr. Outisseus."_

**Introducing the Rebel**

* * *

**Author's Note: Guess who's back, and**** without further adieu, the final member of Team ONAX has been revealed with a splash****! Apologies for the delay, but the good old work/college/hobby combo killed my writing time. With some new free time, hopefully the time between updates will be more consistent.**

**I also want to take this moment to thank my followers and those who faved; it is thanks to your support that I continue to write. On that note, don't forget to fave, follow, and review if you haven't already.**

**This is SpanishBulldog63 signing out saying Happy Reading!**


	5. Chapter 1: The Arrival

Chapter 1: Arrival

"But I don't wanna be the 'bee's knees', ok? I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees," called an almost pleading cry that woke Orion from his nap. It had been at least two hours since the airship stopped at an island called Patch for student pickup and refueling. Groggily, he looked around the cabin at the other passengers; notably the pair of who were likely sisters, one blonde donned a brown jacket and orange scarf over a yellow shirt with matching yellow bracelets, and the other crimson-haired dressed in an all-black blouse and skirt and red cloak , that he assumed were the reason he woke up. Not far from them was a girl in a black shirt and blue jeans with a unique rifle slung across her back, and a blonde boy who looked like he was about to die of air sickness.

"How much longer till we reach Vale?" He grumbled as he stretched, flexing his gauntleted hands to regain some feeling in his arms. As if to answer his question, the clouds ahead broke and revealed the prestigious academy in the distance, the tallest tower emitting a green glow near its peak. A hologram projector buzzed to life and aired news broadcast from the Vale News Network just a few feet away.

"The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa," reported anchor Cyril Ian.

A woman now appeared on screen, reporting about a peaceful demonstration gone awry thanks to the White Fang, a once peaceful organization that in recent years had grown increasingly violent. The bear faunus' ears twitched in agitation at the report, knowing all too well just how bad the White Fang's methods had become. All the good they did before and now they just flush everything they and many reputable faunus, including his father, had worked for.

'Damn fools. All they're doing is making the rest of us faunus look bad. If they want to reach full equality, causing mayhem will only send it all backwards," he thought to himself. He couldn't fault the demonstrators, but the White Fang's now violent stance and ruthless methods made his blood boil. With a buzz of static, he was brought out of his musings and focused on the hologram once more, this time a lone woman appeared and began to address the students aboard the airship.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon!"

"Who's that?" the blonde sister asked.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh."

The older woman's hologram continued, "You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

With that said, the hologram disappeared and a monotonous, digital voice rang throughout the aircraft to announce their arrival in a minute. Grabbing his bag, Orion watched in amusement as the ill boy in the hoodie puked on his way to the back and got it all over one of the blonde's shoes, prompting the two sisters to panic in disgust.

"Hopefully my day goes a lot better than that," Orion said, still grinning at the sisters' expense as the ship docked, making his way for the exit and dodging the vomiting boy as he made way for the nearest trashcan. Looking at the campus, he could see that everything he'd ever heard could not compare to seeing it in person. A long avenue decorated with trimmed trees and flag-draped poles stretched from the docking bays to the main campus. At the end was a multitude of archways, and aqueduct-like features, surrounded by neatly kept lawns and a pathway-laden pond, where several students took a moment to relax and chat. But what really stood out was the great tower in the middle of the campus, where green orbs glowed just short of the tower's top. Orion took a deep breath and smiled; today was the start of a new beginning, one that he knew would change his life forever. New experiences, advanced education in the field, new friends…

"Orion! Over here," called a familiar, soft voice from the docked airship behind his. There was only one person he knew with that voice and knew his name. Sure enough a red-headed girl clad in bronze armor and red miniskirt, armed with a familiar red-and-gold spear and shield, ran up to him and squeezed him with a hug.

"It's good to see you too, Pyrrha. How've you been since we left Sanctum? Good, I hope?" Orion asked as she let go. It had certainly been a while since he'd seen anyone from Sanctum, Pyrrha and the rest of their old team OPAL in particular. While teams weren't as big a focus as they were in the larger academies, he, Pyrrha Nikos, Lance D'Noir, and Azura Tzua were a very tight-knit team at Sanctum. Strategic and precise with a hint of reckless thanks to the black knight, they were a force to be reckoned with in combat classes.

"Yes the break was splendid! I actually ran into Lance and Azura not too long ago when they visited Pantheon. They both say hi, by the way."

"Mph, they were in town and didn't invite me to the party? That's a downer," Orion joked while his bronze-clad friend rubbed the back of her head guiltily.

"Well, it wasn't much of a party, nor was it really much of a true visit. They were actually just going through to get to Vulcan when I saw them. Turns out the two of them got accepted into Haven," Pyrrha said as Orion was taken aback, and continued, "Yeah, that really surprised me too. Both were accomplished students, even if Lance was a tad lazy here and there."

"Ha! That's an understatement if I ever heard one! Still, I'm surprised they didn't get accepted into Beac-ah! What the hell?!" Orion yelped as someone or something barreled into the back of his leg, taking him to a knee. The groaning behind told him it was indeed a person, or rather people as two girls lay in a heap behind him. The first to recover was a tan-haired girl in a brownish cloak who almost immediately, albeit dizzily, apologized to the bear faunus and the other girl.

"I'm so, sooo sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you; I was just trying to find the amphitheater as fast as I could so I wouldn't be stuck in the back."

Pyrrha and Orion helped her and the other girl up, the latter of who had black hair with a streak of white on either side of her head. The Mauler recognized her by the armor and rifle as one of the other students on the airship. She dusted herself off with a stumble and chuckled, "It's alright. Just slow down though, because it felt like I was being tackled by a Grifball player," before she extended her hand to all three fellow students and continued, "My name's Marian Alexander by the way."

The cloaked girl sheepishly rubbed her head as she returned the gesture, "Sorry about that, but I will take the tackle as a compliment. I'm Xienna Henderson, by the way."

"My name's Orion Arguros. Pleased to make your acquaintance. "

"Pyrrha Nikos. It is nice to meet you, Marian."

Orion gestured to Marian's rifle, "Nice gun. I'm assuming it's also something else?

The Guardian gave a smirk as she unshouldered the Rapid Fire and thumbed the mech-shift trigger. The assault rifle split in two, the front half becoming a shield with the barrel sticking out of the middle and the back end flipping into a fiery machete. "Ladies and gentleman, meet the Rapid Fire."

Xienna was about to comment on the weapon before a squeal of excitement echoed from their right. It didn't take the group very long to find the source. The crimson-haired sister from the airship was practically floating in glee as she eyed the various weapons other students were carried.

"Oooh, sis! That kid has a collapsible staff!" she then turned and, as if it was even possible, grew even more wide-eyed as she saw the Rapid Fire's burning half and gasped " That girl has a fire sword!"

Everyone watched in amusement as she was brought out of it by her much more relaxed sister, practically being dragged by her hood before she joined the others. Orion couldn't help but chuckle a bit as the scene reminded him of a time long past…a time Pyrrha could see her old friend was dwelling on. Thankfully a subtle kick to his foot got him to snap out of it.

A grateful smile on his face, Orion turned to the three girls and asked, "Hey, think you can save a couple of spots in the amphitheater for us, Marian? Pyrrha and I have a bit of catching up to do."

"No problem, Orion." The armored girl then turned to the brown-haired speedster, "You want to come along, Xienna?"

"Sure, as long as you can keep up!" she joked and almost ran before her own hood got snagged by her new friend's hand.

"This isn't a race, jeez! We'll see you two there," the Guardian said with chuckle before the two of them left. It may not have left Orion and his tiara-donning comrade truly alone as other students continued to pour on to the campus, but it gave some space for them. Of course after another bump-in, this time from a raucous crowd but specifically a certain perky blonde, the two Mistralians decided to go for a walk towards the campus and avoid the other students. Just in time too, as an explosion rang out from behind them followed by shouting and rampant apologies. 'Just keep walking, ignore what the hell just happened,' the Mauler mentally repeated.

The two neared a part of the pond that wasn't full of awed students when Orion felt a gentle hand placed on his shoulder. He didn't need to turn his head all the way to see the worried look in her green eyes. It's not as if he could blame her though; the years had not been very kind to him since the incident. Who better to have console than a childhood friend?

"You know, I still can't go into a weapon and ammo store or a Dust shop without picturing that little goofball going wide-eyed at everything in sight. It's one thing to think about Carmine, Pyr, but it's another thing completely when there's someone who seems to be _just like him _that'll be spending the next four years here with us. "

Pyrrha brought her friend in tight for a hug once more. "I miss him too, Orion. To see you walking around Pantheon and not having him at your side or pulling him from a fight was heartbreaking. Please know that even if we're not on the same team, or in the same dorm building, I'm still here for you."

"Thanks Pyrrha, and the same goes double for you. I know things haven't been easy with your mother's condition, Monty knows I've been praying she gets better," he saw her expression grow uneasy at this, her despondent eyes looking down. "But I've got your back till the end of the line. If anyone's looking to cause a problem, or some guy wants to try some funny business, they'll need to go through me first."

The Spartan-esque girl looked back at her friend, the warm smile he'd known for all these years coming back to her. Thank you, Orion," she said before noticing that the other students had begun to funnel towards what was assuredly the amphitheater, "Ready to go?"

The bear boy looked in to those warm green orbs; for as long as either of them could remember, Pyrrha had always been there for him through thick and thin. For all they knew, it was planned; their fathers were among the elite of Mistral's huntsmen and had been childhood friends as well. If the two students had never seen each other in school, their families mingled more than enough during the week to make up for it. It made almost perfect sense for there to be an attraction between the two but Orion knew that, for better or worse, it couldn't work. Needless to say, there were complications …and an explanation he still owed her, for more than just that.

'I just really hope that look didn't mean what I think it meant.'

"Yup. Let's get this show on the road!"

* * *

The amphitheater was definitely filled with newcomers by the time the two of them got there. Swarms of students filled the room, and to his right Orion could see a couple of familiar faces joined by…. Weiss Schnee? Shouldn't she be in Atlas with her family's faunus-abusive company? Whatever her reason for choosing to be a Huntress, she was absolutely fuming and glaring at the sisters, little Red in particular.

"YOU!" she barked with as much venom as a sea snake, surprising the red-cloaked girl.

"Oh god It's happening again!" she shrieked as she jumped right into her larger sister's arms.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!"

The blonde seemed taken aback as she looked at her cringing sister, "oh my god you really exploded."

Orion turned to Pyrrha , chuckling, "Well, that explains the explosion we heard on our way here, eh Pyr?" No response. "Pyrrha?"

Looking to his left, he could see that the Spartan was still there, but her focus was somewhere, or on someone, in the crowd across the center aisle. Before he could snap her out of it, the appearance of a familiar speedster did as she popped up in front of them amidst the cries of mysterious bumps and shoves.

"Jeez, took you guys long enough to get here! Come one, Marian and I can only save spots for so long, now let's go!" scolded Xienna.

"Haha, it's alright Xienna. I think a spot closer to the aisle will make it easier for when we leave."

The three of them now turned their attention to the smiling village girl behind them. Before they could chat the whine of a microphone, much to Orion's ears' dismay, echoed throughout the room. Every student in attendance brought their full attention to the stage in front of them as Headmaster Ozpin, a cup of fresh coffee in one hand and his cane in the other, and Ms. Goodwitch stood behind the mic. Not a soul looked away as Ozpin cleared his throat.

"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction." This had quite a lot of people whispering among themselves either in pretend hurt or insult until he continued.

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Professor Goodwitch now approached the microphone as the Headmaster stepped away and added "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

Marian was the first to say anything about Ozpin's speech. "Is it just me, or did something seem…wrong, with him?"

The bear shook his head in agreement, "No, he definitely looks like he's been through the wringer; that coffee smelled way too strong for something as short as that speech. I think it's safe to say he's been awake and busy for a while. And by a while, I mean a few days, at least."

Xienna cocked her head. "You smelled his _coffee_ from all the way over here?"

Orion deadpanned at her as he pointed to his ears and nose, earning an "oh" of realization from the girl as she finally realized his heritage.

"Well, I guess now is as good a time as ever to head to the ballroom and get ready for the initiations tomorrow" he said as he stretched and cracked his back. "Catch you later, ladies."

From here, they all said their goodbyes as they went their separate ways to get ready to sleep in the ballroom.

*****_A few hours later_*****

'Two-hundred…two-hundred one…two-hundred two…'Orion mentally counted his pushups as he tried to tire himself to sleep. It's not as though he hadn't _tried_ less physical means, but working out to go to sleep has worked a couple of times. While some had managed to fall asleep within seconds of hitting their pillow, others were chatting away, wrestling around, or in some cases flexing and flaunting to the other sex across the room.

'You'd think people would be more concerned about the initiation tomorrow instead of trying to seduce before school even starts,' he thought in annoyance. It didn't help that he could overhear a few conversations. A loud, sisterly talk of two familiar voices included.

"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys."

"I know I do." He felt a pair of eyes watching him as he looked up and noticed that a certain blonde, dressed in an orange tank-top with what must be her symbol on the front and black short-shorts was practically boring her eyes in his direction as she purred. But was he certain she was looking at him, the walking skeleton flexing what could hardly be considered a bicep, or the idiots locked in poorly executed headlocks? As if on cue to stop that question, Sir Pukes-A lot strode by in a blue onesie, earning a reaction of disgust from her.

'Two-ninety-eight…two-ninety-nine…three hundred,' he continued, his eyes finally growing heavy. Seeing that as his chance to catch some shut eye, the stocky faunus rolled to his back and gazed out the window at the starry night. His eyes wandered across the sky, looking for a particular formation until he finally found it; a trio of stars perfectly aligned…a formation his mother always told him were the stars of her, himself, and his little brother Carmine. A tear snuck past at the thought of them through eyes finally shutting themselves for the night as an argument broke out on the girls' side of the ballroom.

"Tomorrow's the start of a new beginning. I know what I promised you two...I just hope I can do right by your memories," he muttered to himself, sleep finally taking him.

* * *

**Author's Note: And with that, our story finally gets under way. Bet you guys weren't expecting an update so soon, did ya? Don't forget to fave, follow, and leave a review! These are always appreciated :)**

**This is SpanishBulldog63 signing out and saying Happy Reading! **


	6. Chapter 2: Initiation

Chapter 2: Initiation

"Wake up, lazy butt!"

Orion, just barely waking up, was really hoping for a more peaceful awakening from his alarm clock. But unfortunately for him, that was just not going to happen as she continued to hound the magenta-streaked fellow a few feet away from him.

"It's morning! It's morning! It's morning! It's morning!" she continued to hound in a sing-song tone. 'Oh Dust, make it stop!' the bleary faunus mentally pleaded. But of course, it continued as they practically followed him to the bathroom as he washed the sleep from his face.

"I can't believe we've been at Beacon for a full twenty-four hours!"

'How _you_ made it that long before being slapped with a muzzle is beyond me' Orion continued to muse in annoyance

"Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything, I mean, you're the perfect student and I'm... well, I'm me! But it's just crazy, you know?"

'It's crazy, or you're crazy?' he thought as the far-from-intended trio returned to the ballroom to gather their sleeping gear and head to the cafeteria. Just as he assumed, it _still_ continued while he wrapped his sleeping bag and threw his jacket on.

"We've been friends for _soooooooo_ long! What are the odds we'd still be together? Well, not "together-together..." Not that I'm not saying that you're not handsome; you are handsome, but that'd just be weird, right?"

'That's a load of bull! There is no other way on Remnant he'd be able to deal with your hyperactive ass! Now for the love of Monty, shut up!'

Luckily he found a spot in the cafeteria far away from them, happily making a plate of eggs, bacon, grits and sausage with large glass of water and a couple of bananas and berries on the side. He looked around the room at the other students steeling themselves for the initiation; many were nervous, others cocky, and quite a few didn't seem worried at all.

"Hey, are these seats taken?"

Looking up, he was greeted by the familiar faces of Marian, Pyrrha, and Xienna, whose plate looked less like a breakfast and more like a three-course meal stacked high.

Orion was a bit a puzzled at the mountain of food. "You sure you can finish all of that in time? We've only got so long before they announce where the initiation takes place. And whatever it is they have in store for us, I don't think you want to puke that up in the process"

"Hey, gotta have calories to burn when you're ready to be sprinting all day," she semi-joked with a mouth full of melon. Orion made a quick mental note of this; he was pretty sure she had a speed semblance like little Red, who seemed to be a blur snagging everything that was strawberry and leaving rose petals in her wake.

"Haha, you do that. I'm going for another glass of water," Orion laughed as he got up and moved to the drink station. On his way there, a tall and burly boy in gold-trimmed grey armor with a bird across his chest bumped into him, or rather shoulder-checked him. It didn't do much more than nudge him off a step, but he could feel that this kid was strong.

"Watch where you're going, half-pint," the burnt-orange haired student snarled. He couldn't have been more than 6'7", maybe 6'8". The Mauler knew this guy was a heavyweight, somewhere in the range of 285 and 315 pounds.

The bear boy smirked, earning an even more agitated look from the larger boy. "Sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the floor. You'd think some food would've fixed that."

"Or perhaps I woke up on the wrong side of the zoo, Fuzzy" he said as he walked away, uttering under his breath "Freaks, the whole lot of 'em."

No sooner did he say this that Orion stopped in his tracks, an urge to completely wipe the floor with him striking him. But he was going to be the bigger man, despite the near-foot height advantage the jerk had over him. The Initiation was going to start soon and he saw no need to fight in the cafeteria before it begins. Walking back to his table, he silently prayed that he got to spar with that racist prick in Combat Class. People like him deserved any and all asskickings coming their way. That's when a Third year female student walked up to him from their table. Adorned in Beacon's required uniform with a pair of bracers, full length stockings, and somewhat short hair,

"Hey newbie, you alright? I saw that little exchange, and don't worry, I'm sure he'll be getting his. The name's Stella Argenta, team leader of Team SLSC."

"Was I that obviously pissed?" Orion asked, shaking her hand.

"Trust me, you're not the only faunus who gets crap for who you are. You're also not the only one holding themselves back from tearing guys like him a new one. If you ever need help, or any future advice, don't be afraid to talk to me."

Orion smiled at this, but still couldn't help but ask, "Thank you, Stella. Just out of curiosity, what's the initiation process like here?"

Stella smirked, "Why would I do that? It takes away from the surprise! Just know you'll get a lot of fresh air during the process." On that note, the two said their goodbyes as Orion continued back to his table.  
As he sat down, Xienna's plate was completely empty as she slumped in her seat satisfied and stuffed. Meanwhile, Pyrrha and Marian chatted about what it was like in their respective hometowns, their plates having a few left overs.

"Looks like you guys have had your fill. Everyone ready to go to the locker room?"

With collective nods, and a small belch from the speedster, they put their plates and silverware in the dish bin and made their way to grab their weapons.

* * *

"Okay so locker 630 should be over here…ah! Found it!"

Orion wasted little time throwing his gauntlets on and clipping about three Dust cylinders and three clips of bolts to his belt. He then grabbed a grindstone and ran it over the weapons' blades; he wanted them to be as sharp as possible for whatever was to come. Throughout the process, he could hear some of the chatter nearby, some quite amusing. From two of the voices, he could hear two sisters talking about teams, and how they might not even be the same team. From the sound of it, the crimsonette, Ruby, didn't exactly want to make new friends and wanted to fight solo it seemed.

"Ugh, you sound like dad! I don't need to grow up. First of all, what does making new friends have to do with fighting? "

Orion smirked, 'A lot, actually,' as he recalled how he and Pyrrha met Azura and Lance back at Sanctum. Different styles of combat and different strategies in the beginning, but they eventually learned ways to make everything cohesive. Orion was the close-quarters tank who'd mix it up between ranges to throw the opponents off guard, Pyrrha was the balanced one, Azura worked countermeasures with Dust attacks, and Lance kept people at bay with cover fire. Now and then they'd trade spots and it always kept the opposing teams guessing.

"And second: I don't need people to help me grow up! I drink milk!"

'Kid, you're gonna need more than milk with that mindset."

"Maybe you should try being on someone else's team?"

"My dear sister Yang," 'so that's her name' "are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?"

Yang tried to cover her tracks as she quickly said "What? No! Of course I do! I just thought... I don't know, maybe it would help you... break out of your shell!"

Of course, her sister still found it a ludicrous thought. "What the-?! I don't need to 'break out of my shell'! That's absolutely- "

"Ridiculous!" interrupted a dismayed shout. Orion looked over to see the source was none other than Sir Pukes-a-Lot. "There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would've remembered having to count that high! Why does this have to happen today? "

Orion whistled to get his attention, and partially to stop his whining. "Hey! 636 is over here, dude."

The blonde boy's expression went from one of worry to one relieved as he made his way over to the locker 6 spots down. Taking his seat, the knight opened his locker and pulled out a sheathed sword and by the looks of it, it was a classic-style sword whereas the sheath seem to have some transform mechanism.

"Thanks for that; I probably would've spent all day looking for this thing," he said.

"No problem, bud," Orion extended a hand, "the name's Orion, glad I could help you out. Just don't puke on me"

Jaune seemed taken aback at this. "You saw that yesterday?"

"Dude, I could smell it from the other side of the airship. Not to mention you nearly got it on me on the way out. I can't say the same for blondie over there."

Jaune simply smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about that. I just get airsick real easily…" he paused as he saw the Schnee girl talking to Pyrrha. From what Orion could hear, she was scheming to try and get Pyrrha on her team. Jaune suddenly looked like he'd seen an angel as he continued to eye the heiress.

"Jaune, if you're thinking about doing what I think you're about to do, don't do it."

Unfortunately this fell on deaf ears as the blonde knight made his way over to Weiss and Pyrrha.

"Oh my Dust," Orion facepalmed as it went like how he expected; every attempt that Jaune used on Weiss got shut down. The nickname 'Snow Angel' got a laugh out of him; that was the worst way to flirt with a girl, like cocky thirteen year old bad. If Jaune was going for the confident approach, he'd crossed that line from there to obliviously arrogant. But when the blundering knight shoved Pyrrha out of the way to get to her, the Mauler nearly walked over to handle it, but Pyrrha motioned for him to relax as she shook her head and mouthed, "I've got this. Don't worry."

The Mauler mouthed back, his ears pinned back, "If he shoves you again, I'm breaking his arm."

The exchange between Jaune and Weiss continued, but when Pyrrha was now thrown into the mix, Orion was all ears. Apparently Pyrrha was an unkown to him, which baffled the bear boy; she'd been an idol to younger girls and the face of the admittedly awful Pumpkin Pete's cereal. Weiss, practically fuming despite her almost snowy appearance, made all of this clear to him as she waved her arms in frustration.

" Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum!" Well, she was half-right; both held the top spot at Sanctum, although Orion may have lost a point or two in Combat Classes for going overboard… something he could never control, even of his medicine was aimed to help him do so. Thankfully, his grades in other classes made up for it.

"Never heard of it," Jaune said.

Orion simply looked in their direction dumbstruck. He couldn't tell if Pukes-a-Lot was being serious, joking, or lived stupidly under a rock. Sanctum was the best combat school in Mistral before students graduated and applied to the academies like Beacon and Haven.

"She's won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row!" the Heiress now shouted, the mentioning of that tournament causing Orion to pause in discomfort. That tournament made him a household name back home, but now as much as it did for the Spartan several lockers down. Admittedly, he didn't want or need to win those tournaments; fame and money weren't exactly highest priorities but when it came to the latter, he knew who needed it more. So to him, second place was the better place. He could feel a set of eyes on him as he continued to sharpen his blades, and he didn't need to look to see whose they were.

The next thing he knew, Jaune was sent flying into a locker as Pyrrha's spear Miló snagged him by his hoodie and pinned him to locker 570. Orion couldn't help but laugh at the now downcast boy. What did he expect was going to happen? Not many women would fall for the oblivious and overly cocky types, so getting speared to the locker is what he needed. Hopefully he got the message.

The speakers in all corners of the locker room crackled to life as the voice of Professor Goodwitch rang out, "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

"It was nice meeting you," Pyrrha said as she yanked her spear from the locker. Orion made his way out as he rolled his massive shoulders only to be stopped by the two girls walking away from Jaune.

"Are you ready for this, Orion?" the smiling Spartan asked, Weiss looking as if she were trying to recall something deep in her memory.

"I was ready before everyone else was really awake! Not like I had much of a choice when I woke up, though. Some girl hounded the guy next to me to wake up and woke me up in the process, and loud-mouth and company, as if Miles above was trying to mess with me, seemed to practically follow me everywhere. How I don't have a headache is beyond me!" Orion complained.

Weiss now piped up with a snap of her fingers. "You're Orion Arguros? You mean the same Orion who fought Pyrrha in the finals at the Mistral Regionals all four years?"

The bear boy cocked an eyebrow, discomfort flashing on his face again at the tournament. "Yeah, that's me. Why? Would you like an autograph?" he joked. The quizzical face on the Schnee girl quickly changed in to a scowl."

"NO!" she snapped as her eyes now stared daggers at his ears. "There's no possible way a _faunus_ would've made it so far in such an event unless you somehow snuck and cheated your way there," she spat.

Orion, having had enough anti-faunus crap for one day, growled in contempt, "You think _humans_ are any better? Or are you going to generalize us all because of dirtbags like the White Fang? If that's the case, maybe we should just generalize all humans like your father because of his business methods and how he treats his faunus employees?"

The little girl in white gasped in disgust, "How DARE you?! What do- you know what, I'm done with this, "as she stomped away towards the cliff. Orion punched the wall, leaving very sizeable and deep dent in the metal wall.

Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Don't worry too much about her. I was ready to go off on her as well. She seems more concerned about her appearance and status here, giving off a façade of being perfect."

"Thanks Pyr, I-" Orion was interrupted when a student behind them at the lockers shouted in annoyance.

"What the hell! First my boat gets wrecked, then I get stuck swimming through a rotten kelp bed to get to campus, and now someone decides to stab a big ass hole in my locker? GIVE ME A BREAK!"

* * *

The cliffs over looked a magnificently green forest that expanded for miles. Of course, there was sure to be an abundance of Grimm. Orion, thinking about it, grinned in anticipation as he looked forward to beating the dark creatures to a pulp. Up ahead he saw that the other initiates stood upon silver tiles just a couple of yards from the edge of the cliff. The next open tile was between some fellow with a mohawk and the uppity spaz he was woken up by earlier.

When everyone lined on the tiles, Ozpin began to explain just what exactly the students' initiation was. "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Ms. Goodwitch now stepped in to talk. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

From the other side, he could hear a groan of "What? Ooh!"

The Headmaster continued to explain how the team assignment worked from there "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."

That same childlike voice continued to groan. Judging from what he heard on the locker room, it was likely Ruby.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

The little crimsonette looked like a part of her shattered inside and practically screamed, "WHAT!"

After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die," Ozpin putting quite some emphasis on this statement, particularly the word 'will'.

The bear faunus smiled, clanging his armored fists together with anticipation. Opposition? The idea of little to no chance of success? How could he resist!

Ozpin now explained what the goal of the initiation was. "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors" 'and volunteering upperclassmen' the professor thought to himself' "will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?

From down the line, the Mauler could see no one was raising their hands. Of course, that was until Jaune shakily raised his hand, and asked, "Yeah, um, sir?

Thankfully it fell on deaf ears. "Now, take your positions."

Everyone posed as he was sure they felt machines at work under the tiles like he did. He stepped back near the rear edge of the tile, because after watching the little white princess get sent flying in the air, he now knew what Stella meant when she said he'd "get a lot of fresh air."

"Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question. So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"

Orion shook his head with it in his hand. 'Does he _not_ see everybody else being shot in to the air?!'

"No. You will be falling."

"Oh, uh, I see... So, did you, like, hand out parachutes for us?"

Orion couldn't help but snap out, "Really? Did you see anyone, from the locker room to here, be handed a parachute, man?"

Ozpin continued, noting the stocky faunus' frustration but declining to respond to it. "No. You will be using your own "landing strategy."

The mechanism under his feet clicked in place, ready to throw him skyward. With a slight crouch, Orion timed the fling perfectly, torpedoing at the apex of the launch like a 5'10" missile.

"YEEEEEEHAWWWW!" he shouted like a madman, hearing a "Wooohooo of joy some several students behind him."

Jaune, on the other hand, persisted on asking his question, not even noticing the spring in place. "So, what exactly is a landing strategYYY!"

Looking back and ignoring the clumsy boy flailing like a flying fish, he was almost certain the Headmaster was smiling as he drank his coffee.

Orion turned back ahead, laughing to himself, 'Troll move, Ozpin. Troll move."

* * *

Flying over the tree line was invigorating, but the birds were a nuisance. He dodged one, but a poor girl behind him meekly cried "Birdie, NO!"

Gunshots rang out to slow some students' fall, others decided to plummet at the descent. Orion, on the other hand, was enjoying himself as he deployed the grappling blades to latch on to trees and swing himself further. He hadn't had this much fun since he wrecked those muggers back in Mistral, even singing along with every swing.

"Spider-bear, Spider-bear, does whatever a Spider-bear does. Can he swing from a web? No he can't; he uses blades! LOOK OUUUT; Here comes the Spider- holy shit!" he cried out, nearly getting burned as Yang blazed past him like a blazing ball of overenthusiasm, using her weapons to gain some distance.

"Screw it! Going down!" he shouted, cocking his right back as he descended into the Emerald forest and throttled the trees in front of him with solid punches and bladed forearm strikes before hitting solid ground. He sniffed the area, and kept his ears on alert but for the most part, where he was was dead as doornail. Still, he kept his guard up just in case before proceeding through the forest.

"Now to find whoever's going to be my partner, and get to those relics."

* * *

Marian Alexander, meanwhile, didn't exactly have as good a trip down. Clipping the shield to her back, she held the Rapid Fire's burning machete in front of her and front-flipped all the way down, looking like a fiery buzz saw as she hack through many a tree-limb. The impact on the ground was what did it, because as soon as she stood up, she stumbled against a tree.

"Never doing that again," She slurred, waiting for everything to stop spinning, blade in hand in case something popped out of the bushes at her. Finally gathering herself, she brought the shield and blade back together to use her weapon's rifle mode. She listened as closely as she could to the area around her, ignoring the sounds of students overhead.

THUD

After that came a muffled yelp of "OW!"

The Guardian made her way to the source of the noise, rifle firmly shouldered in case one of the Grimm jumped from the bushes. What she found was rather comical as a tan-haired, brown cloaked girl was face-planted into the tree and slid down just the same as her arm-sword carved a long gash on the way down. The second the Runaway hit the ground, she plopped to her back, her face covered in pain and her entirety in bark.

"Ugh, that hurt!" she complained, earning a laugh from a few yards away that earned a scowl. "Well, you gonna give me a hand here, or just sit there and laugh all day?" she snapped.

Marian pulled the smaller girl to her feet, but not without ribbing her new partner on the instant, "That depends; are you more bark or bite?"

Rustling in the bushes caused Xienna to leap to her feet, her sword at the ready as a snarl came from their left…then their right, and soon all around them. Piercing red eyes glared from the brushes and shadows as the Guardian clicked the safety off. A creature stepped forth from the brush, looking much like a werewolf save the white, red-lined, bony mask and the bony spikes protruding on its forelimbs. Quickly, others jumped out to surround the girls before they all howled and roared in unison.  
Xienna and Marian stood back to back, each not taking their eyes off the monsters around them. But it was Xienna who broke their battle-ready silence.

"Heh, guess we're about to find out!"

A silent laugh escaped Marian as she put her sight on the nearest Beowolf's head, right between its devilish eyes….

* * *

Orion had been whacking the bushes for what seemed like forever. He was itching for Grimm to fight, but the trees seemed to be the only thing that would do. Finding a sizable redwood, he threw a left hook that pierced through the wood, and then swung it outward for his gauntlet's blade to cleave it. But it was through the explosion of wood followed by the creaking and groaning of it falling that Orion heard an anguished yelp.

"No, no, no, NOOOO," a wavy blue-haired boy cried out, a sudden gust of wind saving him from unceremoniously smashing into the next tree. He was of medium build and seemed to be dressed in a blue jacket fastened by a grey-pieced navy-blue belt with whitish-grey pants and black boots. There seemed to be grey armor that was part of the coat, covering the shoulders and chest while similar colored pieces covered his wrists.

The jade-eyed youth held himself up with a pair of wind streams before landing. "Who did I rile up to have such hellish 24 hours? Seriously, what the hell?!" he groaned before staring at the one who screwed up his landing strategy. "Hey, did you really need to destroy that tree? I kinda needed that to land here without injury, you ass!"

Orion shrugged, "It was kinda in my way."

The Vacuan looked dumbfounded. "What kind of stupid logic is that, you brute?! You could have just simply walked around it!"

"Well, smashing it felt better," the faunus smirked, one ear twitching because of the new guy's know-it-all tone." And you're calling the wrong guy a 'brute', because I wear some nicknames like that with pride. Nice try though, windbag."

Mr. Blue ground his teeth in frustrtation, "You have given your- OUR- position away to any Gri-"

The Mauler raised a finger to cut him off, "I'm gonna stop you right there. See, while your high and mighty self was up there, did you see anything for a good distance near here?"

"I saw a tree burst into flame about a couple of miles west of here and some loudmouthed blonde kid get pinned to a tree, but outside of that I saw nothing" Nemo relented.

"You saw nothing, so basically zero things of interest? Kinda like the number of Grimm of I've seen all day! So if you haven't gotten it yet, I've been bored out of my skull!" Orion quipped.

"Heh, I guess that explains the trail of shattered trees, then? Nemo Outtisseus, and you?"

"Orion Arguros. Good to meet ya, partner."

The bear shook his hand, noticing that the other guy tried to squeeze as hard as he could. In response the Mauler 'accidentally' squeezed harder, just short of injury but enough for Nemo to cringe and wave the pain away from his hand.

They heard Beowolves howling in the distance but from the sound of it, Orion and Nemo weren't on their menu. The two were about to exit the new clearing when a new baying echoed from deeper in the Emerald Forest. It was blood-curdling, but high-pitched like a jackal or coyote so Beowolves and Ursae weren't it.

"Okay, so _maybe_ something heard the trees crashing. My bad," the faunus semi-joked with his hands in the hounding grew closer, and it did so faster than anticipated. Facing the direction the howling came from, Orion took a fighting stance and Nemo unsheathed Nautilus, hastily holding it in front of him.

"How many do you think there are, Orion?" the Rebel asked warily.

Orion kept his ears pricked up, "If I'm hearing it right, somewhere between 25 and 30. They don't sound big, but that could always mean they're a whole helluva lot more vicious."

A bead of sweat dripped from Nemo's forehead. "How far are they?"

Nothing, as the bear boy brought his fists up, ears flattening as he bared his teeth.

"Orion?!"

"They're here," Orion snarled as the bushed came to life with Mastiff-sized, canine-like Grimm. They were quadrupedal, had the typical bony armor from their narrow snouts to their tails, but also donned a set of quills running down their spines and two strange bumps on their rear legs. Orion remembered going over this type of Grimm in Sanctum, and evidently so did Nemo by the look on his face.

"Blood Hounds," the Rebel grimaced.

***Meanwhile, just half a mile away***

How many do you count, Marian?"

The Guardian took count, never keeping the muzzle off her target. "I count five. How many over on your side?"

Xienna wasn't too ecstatic counting them out, but she did nonetheless. "Same."

The Beowolf in front of her charged, and took a skull full of rounds for its trouble as Marian killed it and gave the slash-and-stabbing girl behind her some cover fire. Staring daggers at the Beowolf attempting to flank her, she had three words for it as she brought the Rapid Fire to bear.

"BRING IT ON!"

RATA-TATA-TATA-TATA-TAT-

***Back to Orion and Nemo***

"You take the 15 on the left, and I'll take the 15 on the right…sound good?"

Nemo countered the offer. "Ha! I'll take 16!"

"That's the spirit!" Orion laughed heartily.

But it wasn't all laughter when the Blood Hounds closed in, their large canine fangs bared and claws ready.

The Mauler banged his fists together twice and roared as they charged at the students, their jaws drooling with anticipation.

"BRING IT OOOON!"

* * *

**Author's Note: Another week, another chapter! See if you guys can spot the references ;) As always, my dear readers, don't forget to fave, follow, and leave a review!**

**This is SpanishBulldog63 signing out and saying Happy Reading!**


	7. Chapter 3: Formation

Ch.3 Formation

At the edge of Beacon Cliff, Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch monitored the initiates through their tablets, fed live footage via cameras installed in many of the forest's trees. To Glynda's genuine displeasure, one of the students below had been thrashing several trees and, in the process, cameras. Her eye twitched in frustration when she saw a path of them fall one-by-one by one particular faunus who seemed bored by the lack of activity until the arrival of a brash Mr. Outisseus. The pair made immediately after them was the alert Miss Alexander and aloof Miss Henderson. Both professors' tablets beeped again, tearing Goodwitch's eyes away from the sights and sounds of combat below to check the update.

"The last pair has been formed, sir; Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Poor boy... I can't possibly imagine those two getting along. Still, he's probably better off than Miss Nikos. "

"Mmmm..." was all he answered as he continued to eye the feed in front of him. He knew where Glynda was going with this but, as he told her before, he had his reasons for letting the young Arc in. But he was also not the only initiate the Headmaster kept a personal eye one

"I don't care what his transcripts say. That Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat. I guess we'll find out soon enough. At their current pace, they should reach the temple within just a few minutes-hold on,"Glynda noted an alert on her tablet, "I take that back. It appears there's two other pairs on the same pace."

"Speaking of which, what did you use as relics this year?" she asked in curiosity, but got no response. "Professor Ozpin?"

The Headmaster didn't budge at all from his spot, his face full of interest between the initiates' interactions and the battles they waged below. On the screens below Ms. Rose and Ms. Schnee bickering as he expected, two particular screens caught his immediate interest, and both were about to get messy when cameras 29 and 63 showed packs of Bewolves and Blood Hounds, respectrively

"Oh dear…."

* * *

"Xienna! On your left!" Marian cried out as she riddled a charging Beowolf with cover fire before it reached her partner. The Runaway was using her semblance to zip in between the Beowolves with deep hit-and-run slashes before one lucky swipe sent careening into another tree. The little speedster dizzily gave her armored friend a thumbs-up before leaping and hacking her Viper daggers into the skull of another Grimm. The fight started out as they expected, but slowly things were not looking too good. Xienna's Viper arm-sword may have its secondary function to split into twin daggers, but she had nothing to keep things at a distance. Whenever Xienna attacked, it forced Marian to shoot down any flankers, leaving the Guardian to fight with only her fiery blade for that moment. She'd seen too many people die because of strategies like this, but to catch her before she turned into a stabbing-blur was impossible.

"How many more do we have left?" she called out, hoping Speedy heard any of it while she planted another Beowolf with a shield jab before a slash took its upper jaw.

"I lost count," her voice fading in and out between dashes, "How many smoking bodies are there?"

"Are you kidding me!?"

"No! Wait a minute," for brief second the girl stopped, even though she stood on the back of one of the Beowolves doing so, "I think we took out half of them!"

The girl then hacked and slashed away at the beast she stood on, the neck and shoulders looking like they'd been hit with a buzz saw before she took the head clean off. "Make that six of them…Marian, look out!"

She did, and if it wasn't for her semblance, the three pinning Beowolves would have caused some damage. But therein was the problem, because now she's stuck on her back between some rocks and three Grimm. Her machete was knocked a few feet away from her, and her shield arm was held down by one beast's foot. She fought like hell to break free as the other two advanced, but to no avail. The one directly above her roared in her face, saliva spraying everywhere. She could see Xienna taking on a fourth one and trying to get the straggler's attention, but still wasn't enough to help her out.

"Xienna!"

That's when a blurry ball of brown flew right into the roaring Beowolf and sent it flying into a boulder. The others looked away in confusion, giving Marian the opening she needed to break free and grab her machete to skewer one's skull. Xienna apparently hacked the feet off the other Beowolf from before in order to aid her, because the beast now resorted to crawling with its arms. It was nothing a flung dagger to the head couldn't cure, as the girl now danced circles around the one she tackled and hacked its joints to make it collapse to its knees. Marian plunged the shield's barrel in its mouth and pulled the trigger, earning a pulpy explosion from what was left of the head.

"You okay, Marian? You had me worried for a sec, there."

"I'm fine, but you should probably go grab your dagger. We still have two more sitting there, so while you make your move, I'll cover your back. You ready?"

Xienna nodded, knowing that her Templar-like partner had really done most of the hard work. Her daggers may have wounded, but she couldn't get a sure kill without Marian risking her shield-gun to save her flanks. "Sure, but I got dibs on one of them!"

Marian smiled for a second, but composed herself again,"Got it. Be ready to move on my mark…MARK!"

The two dashed for the smoking corpse, Marian charging up front to bash the nearest Beowolf aside with her shield and Xienna snagging her dagger to reset to the Viper to its arm-sword form. A few clack-clacks and a yelp told her Marian just finished it, so Xienna charged at the last one. When it jumped at her, she slid underneath with her sword up and cut it from mouth to tail. She got up to see two smoky halves on both sides of her, and an impressed Marian ahead of her, her helmet under her arm and the Rapid Fire slung across her shoulder.

"Nice kill, but when we get back to the Cliff, you and I are going to have to talk about your fighting style.

* * *

"A whine greeted Orion's ears when a right hook met Blood Hound skull, the force snapping its neck before the bear used it's corpse like a bat on another. The other guy, Nemo, was doing well too, mixing fluid movements with powerful slashes of his scimitar or throwing the Hounds into each other with blasts of wind. Orion simply went in swinging again, landing an uppercut on airborne Grimm that shattered its jaw and a left cross to launch the body at its pack-mates. He knew they were pack-hunters, but it was rare to see this many in a group.

Nemo spiraled through the crowd of claws and fangs, Nautilus hacking into those closest to him and using his semblance to send some back. His burly partner may fight with brute force, but he did so with a strange finesse, dodging attacks left and right as if they were telegraphed a mile away despite the scrum of Grimm around him. He heard what sounded like a cable being fired, turning to see that one of Orion's blades, attached to a cable, wrenched down a branch for him to use like a club. Two Blood Hounds were simply splattered or sent over the tree line as he swung it with satisfying crunch.

"Hey boys, FETCH!" he shouted, hurling the branch and taking out another three, the shrieks and crunching bone echoing from where they landed. A pain in his leg brought his attention down at a sneaky one yanking on his boot, creating an opening for one to jump for his head.

"Oh no you don't. Down boy!" he barked as he batted it down with the bladed side of his gauntlet, splitting its skull. Another clenched its teeth on the knuckles, getting a growl from the bear as he lifted it up and punched it square in the throat and through the damaged tree next to him. The Mauler turned his attention now to the one biting his leg, a scowl across his face, "As for you…"

He fired a bladed cable into its side, the ensuing yelp freeing his leg. Orion swung his new Grimm-flail into Nemo's crosshairs, shredding the bloodthirsty mongrel with automatic shotgun fire. The retracting cable sliced through another Blood Hound mid-howl before sinking back into its poll. A Grimm on his left tried the same ankle-biting trick, but only got to see a boot crash down on its head with a sick crunch. A gust of wind blew his way and threw a Blood Hound into Orion's spinning back-fist as Nemo continued his assault on his half of the pack. Skewering one on his bayonet, the Grimm behind it were blindsided with a mix of shotgun fire and quills. Nemo caught a jumper in place with a bubble of air to his left, turning it to chunks not a second later. But a chorus of growls caught his attention as three more lunged at him from the sides. The Mauler called out to his partner, "How ya holding up, Nemo?"

The sound of two dead Blood Hounds hitting the ground preceded a grunt as Nemo held a jumping Blood Hound back. "Oh I'm just having the time of my bloody life over here! I got this one here flicking its tongue at me like a drunken prom date!"

Orion laughed as hammered another Blood Hound from the air to his knee, "Really? Sounds like a blast! Maybe you should oblige?"

Nemo's jade eyes beamed at the Mauler next to him. "Or maybe you shouldn't be a complete asshole and do something to thin the crowd here?!"

The faunus sighed as he snapped another's neck, "Alright, but you're going to want to jump and throw your lover down on my mark."br /br /The bear boy hit the shift trigger and brought his silver-and-black gauntlets together for Arktouros' ax-form. Without skipping a beat, he selected lightning Dust and swung it into the air, etches of yellow tracing along the sides of the blade and into its glowing edges.

"MARK!"

With a roar, Orion stabbed the head of the weapon directly into the ground in front of him and sent a wave of shocking concussive force through the ground. Immediately, Nemo kicked off his straggler and floated up above the crackling ground until the glowing stopped and Orion picked Arktouros out of the ground. The remaining and wounded Blood Hounds were in a heap some several feet away, barely visible through the dissolving of their /br /Orion walked over to his teammate, putting his hand on his shoulder and asked, "You alright, Nemo?"

Nemo shrugged off the hand with a stubborn roll of the shoulder, "Yeah, yeah, I'm good. You want to end this party so we can grab those relics already?"

Orion shifted Arktouros to crossbow form and grinned, "Light 'em up?"

"Light 'em up," Nemo agreed, reloading Nautilus with a fresh clip of shells. Orion selected burn Dust before looking down the sights, "Alright, FIR-wait," he paused, his eyes then growing wide as he yelled "DODGE!"

"What do you mean dodg-oh…WOAH!" Nemo cried, barrel rolling away from the source; an Ursa covered in fire had just flown through the trees ahead, leaving a burning trail of lumber behind it. It crashed into the Blood Hounds and between the two students like a missile until the Grimm all hit the broken redwood tree in a beaten heap. The Ursa was definitely dead, but some of the Blood Hounds were surprisingly still alive.

"OK, so that just happened," said an amused Orion. If that was an indicator of what his class of students was going to be like, Beacon will definitely be full of some fun times. He looked forward to meeting whoever did that number.

"Yeah…so, ready to shoot _now_, Arguros?"

The Orion smiled cruelly, "Ice the suckers."

The continuous thumps and thwips of Dust-shells and Dust-headed bolts rained down on the Blood Hounds and Ursa without mercy. The shells tore them up, the bolts blew them apart, and the surrounding trees suffered all the same. And much to Professor Goodwitch's chagrin, a stray bloody quill nailed camera 63 and killed the feed from that area.

* * *

"That boy is almost just like his father! If he breaks one more camera I'm going to smack him like I smacked Mr. Bronzemane that one day in my class when he mocked a sparring pair all throughout the match," Glynda fumed. To her annoyance, Ozpin chuckled at her rant. Leonidas was one of the more care-free students she had taught, and by that she meant loud, boisterous, and pugnacious. But he turned out to be one of the best Huntsmen out there, even if some of his methods were a tad unorthodox.

"You mean Mr. 'May-I-Have-Another'? He laughed when you hit him because he knew it made you mad, and quite honestly, it's funny when you are. "A light smack across the back of his head proved his point as he gazed back at the tablet. "It appears we have a pair just seconds away from the temple."

"Who are they?"

Ozpin smiled, "The ones that will soon be your favorite students."

WHACK

Turning to see Goodwitch holding her riding crop, Ozpin smirked as rubbed his sore shoulder, "May I have another?"br /br /Glynda stomping away from him in a fuss made him chuckle as the tablet indicated five more pairs near the temple…but somehow one was now suddenly moving faster than the others, and another made the poor choice to venture down a cave.

* * *

It had been a few minutes since Marian and Xienna got out of the clearing where they fought the Beowolves. Xienna was internally beating herself up for the fight; she could have fought much smarter than she did, and the sight of Marian being pinned down by those Grimm made her feel worse. If she had screwed up against that one Beowolf, chances are that Marian wouldn't be here right now.

"Xienna," the village girl called out, snapping her partner out of it.

Her voice meekly replied "Yeah?" as Marian sped up to put herself in front of her, and put her hands on her

"Stop worrying about what happened back there. We're not used to working together, and we have different experiences in handling Grimm. But that's why we're here: to learn from our mistakes and use that experience so we can keep the people safe."

Xienna sighed, a look of concern still etched in her face when they continued walking into another wide clearing, "I know, it's just I don't have many friends, let alone people who'd actually span style="font-style: italic;"want/span to help… hey, I see the temple ahead!"

Sure enough, the stony locale was just a hundred yards ahead. It looked like grey rotunda that had seen much better days, as chunks of it were strewn about the field while only five pillars remained. Atop the pillars lay what remained of its stony circular top, covered in bits of moss like the remaining walls. From where they stood, they could make out a few smaller columns.

Marian cracked a smile as she said, "No doubt about, that's got to be the temple there. Let's grab a relic and get back to the cliff before something crazy happens again."

They were about 20 feet away from the stony locale when movement appeared from around the other side of the temple. The two girls quickly hid behind the mossy stone wall and listened carefully for who, or what, was /br /Their worries were put to rest when a smooth but haggard voice broke "If we run into anything else on our way back to the cliff, I'm blaming you. I'd rather not have to fight something big after that pack of Blood Hounds. "

Then a deeper, more familiar voice snickered, "You've been saying that ever since we left that crater way back there. If anything, you jinxed yourself and automatically made it nobody's fault but your own, Nemo. But hey, let's worry about that later and grab one of those…relics? Ok, I was expecting something like a statue, a jewel, or even a fossil. But emthese/em are our relics?"

Xienna peeked around the corner, just to be sure; the shorter and stockier of the two in the silver jacket was definitely Orion. There was no mistaking the symbol on the back of his silver jacket, a bear paw between two blades connected by a belt of stars, or the scar that ran from the middle of his forehead and through his right eye brow to above his black mustache. 'I never noticed the scar…then again, I've never been one to pay complete attention to someone's appearance,' she thought to herself, now remembering his reaction to Ruby's weapon-gushing and wondering if it meant anything.

But then she turned her attention to his partner Nemo, and suddenly the runaway felt like she should start paying attention. He was definitely taller than her faunus friend and while he wasn't built as strongly as Orion, he wasn't exactly a toothpick either. His blue coat had gray armor from his shoulders and down the front, just above a similarly designed belt. The taller boy was a lighter tan, but it seemed to go well with his shoulder-length blue hair. Where Orion looked like a fighter, Nemo looked like the kind of boy Xienna had seen some other girls swooning over on magazine covers; his face was smooth save a bit of stubble around the chin with bright jade eyes. But when Nemo turned and looked her way, she felt herself go red in the face before quickly bringing her head back around.

Marian noticed the other girl's blush and stifled a laugh, getting a glare from her partner before they both walked out to join Orion and Nemo. That's when they noticed the columns circling the floor of the temple held not relics, but something more…mundane. On each one, alternating in white and black were nothing more than-

"Chess pieces? Is…is this the right temple, guys? Or is this some kind of gag?" she asked in confusion. She didn't peg Ozpin to have that much of a sense of humor to use pieces from a game as "relics"

"I'm gonna go on a limb and say this is probably the only temple in the entire forest. Oh right, where are my manners? Marian and Xienna, meet Nemo Outisseus. Windbag-"

"I don't need you to make introductions for me!"

Orion did a mock bow and quipped "A thousand pardons, Your Highness."

Ignoring the faunus' jab, Nemo bowed as he introduced himself to Marian who returned the gesture in kind. She'd met people like him before, all of them regal-like but arrogant in almost every way. She could see it in his body language that he was overly proud, but something in his face belied that from within. Xienna, on the other hand, apparently took everything at face value because she was red as a berry when he introduced himself to her. She could relate to the obvious butterflies…that's how it started with herself and Natalie. Smiling, she turned to the chess pieces behind her and grabbed a white pawn.

"You grab your 'relic', Orion?"

"Yeah, and it looks like you might've had the same idea I had," he said, pulling the other white pawn from his jacket. "If everyone's ready to go, let's move out."

As they left, the sound of a Nevermore caught everyone's attention and froze them in place once they reached the trees. Fighting Grimm on the ground was one thing, but a battle with flyers like Nevermores and Strixes was another story. Further in to the forest, the sounds of wings overhead had everyone looking up as sure enough a giant Nevermore sped over them all. But flaps weren't the only sounds heard as Xienna cocked her head quizzically, "Did anyone else hear shouts and screams when that thing flew over?

"Yeah, I was hoping someone else heard it so I didn't think I was crazy," Orion no sooner said this when another scream was heard, this one much louder and higher pitched then the other two. Not a second, later a series of shouts was heard growing distant.

Marian cried out as she unslung the Rapid Fire "Sounds like some of the others are in trouble!"

Orion stopped at a cluster of burnt-black trees and was about to suggest going to help them when something wet dropped down on his head as well as Xienna's.

"AH! When did it start raining? Better yet, when did it get dark? The sun was just out!" the smaller girl asked in a frenzy. Orion just noticed himself that it had suddenly gotten darker when they stopped. Everything was quiet, almost too quiet for his liking. Everybody was on alert now, weapons drawn and at the ready just in case that silence was broken. Orion turned his attention to a pair of trees when he heard a slight rustle in the bushes next to them.

"The trees here are all burnt to a crisp, but these two…" he muttered to himself before he noticed an ivory-white point protruding from one of the bushes. Looking closer and moving some of the foliage, he paled as the point, and others he'd found next to it, grew larger with every inch upwards until they connected to a black, reptilian foot. Reaching up to wipe his hair, the dripping liquid was sticky…almost like...

"Oh no…"

* * *

"Oh no…Professor Ozpin, we have a situation on camera 9," Professor Goodwitch panicked.

Ozpin glanced over to his associate and said rather flatly "I know."

"Think they'll be able to handle it?

Ozpin turned back to his tablet, eyeing the four students as a monstrous shadow loomed over them. "Never discount the power of the pawn, Glynda, because it's not the king who checks the pawn, but the other way around."

* * *

"Guys, we gotta get out of here…Now."

"Now?" Marian echoed as it continued to pour.

"Right now!"

That's when a deep huff of air blew leaves down on the quartet, their heads slowly craning upwards when they say a large, boxy, and bone-white head looking down on them all. Large, powerful jaws full of big teeth aimed down at them, but nothing like the blood-red eyes focused on each and every one of /br /  
Nemo then closed his eyes and grimaced, "Orion…"

"I told you, this is all on you…"

Marian froze in deep-seated fear, wide-eyed when she stuttered, "Nobody. Move. A muscle."

Xienna had another idea in mind, screaming "RUN!

That's when the sound of thunder echoed across the forest…the Tyrant had found its meal.


	8. Chapter 4: Check the King

Chapter 4: Check the King; Players and Pieces Unite!

The troupe of eight scampered through the Emerald Forest, some ready to collapse sooner than others from muscle exhaustion. They were all being chased on two fronts as a Nevermore cawed with unholy might from the skies above, and a Death Stalker continued to be right on their tails. Gun fire and explosions managed to keep it from getting too close, but nothing could kill it let alone stop it. It had been like this since everyone met at the temple. Now, it was a race for the next best place to handle these Grimm and, with their luck, Yang could only imagine it would be a while before-

"What on Remnant was that?!"

A thunderous roar echoed across the forest, shaking the very ground they tread and stopped everything to a grinding halt. It sounded like someone had taken the sound of an elephant, tweaked it, and threw in some sort of movie monster for bonus points on the fear factor. The blonde brawler looked back to see that even the Death Stalker had stopped in its tracks…something that made her slightly unnerved . If whatever made that sound could stop a Grimm as big as a Death Stalker in its eight-legged tracks, she could only imagine it was bigger…much, much bigger, and a whole lot meaner.

Her question didn't go unnoticed though, as the red-head clad in bronze armor, Pyrrha, replied with a tinge of worry, "I don't know, but if there's a team doing battle with it, I hope they survive it."

Weiss, her little sister's partner, spoke with a cold, borderline uncaring tone, "I'm not worried about how they'll fare, but if we don't keep going we'll be in the same predicament."

Blake, silent throughout most of the day, snipped at the heiress "It's a little late to say that, don't you think?"

'I don't know what that thing is, or who's fighting it, but one thing's for sure,' she thought, chambering a round in her gauntlets Ember Celica as they sprinted while they had the chance. A guttural growl reverberated from the armored beast behind them, followed by a renewed sound of it giving chase.

'I don't envy the guys who have to fight that thing.'

* * *

"I ENVY ANYONE WHO'S NOT FIGHTING THIS THING!"

CRASH

"THIS COULD'VE BEEN AVOIDED IF WE DIDN'T MOVE!"

CRASH

"THAT WHOLE 'TYRANT'S VISION IS BASED ON MOVEMENT' THEORY WAS DEBUNKED!"

CRASH

"IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE IT WOULD'VE SNAGGED US!"

CRASH

"NOW SHUT UP AND DON'T STOP, PEOPLE!"

The four of them had been running nonstop for what seemed like ages, and the Tyrant was no further behind them then it had been since they encountered it. As he dodged and weaved through the trees, none of which hampered its chase at all, Orion kept his eyes forward and scanned for anything that could help save their asses.

'Trees…a boulder… they could help slow it down, but they won't be enough to completely stop it. Damn,' the mauler shook his head in frustration. 'C'mon Monty show us a sign.'

The only sign he continued to get was the sound of clashing jaws and thunderous bellows, a sign that screamed the only thing he heard Xienna screaming: "Run!"

Marian and Nemo fired wildly behind them, shells and magazines littering the forest floor as they failed to hit anything vital. He didn't know how much ammo they had left, and if they found themselves with their backs against a wall, they'd need every round they had. Up ahead, for what seemed like the first for miles, was a burst of light. A dull light, but light nonetheless meant an open area for them to fight the Tyrant much better. Thinking fast, Orion shot a grapple cable into one of the trees at shoulder height as he sank the other gauntlet into a tree on his left to anchor himself. The Tyrant never saw it coming as it toppled over the trip-line and Orion hastily tore the other tree down on top of it as he reeled the blade back in. The impact from both stopped the others before he shouted "DON'T STOP! I THINK I JUST PISSED IT OFF! KEEP RUNNING TOWARDS THE LIGHT!"

With every step their bodies felt like they were on fire, their lungs pumping smoke and their veins filled with battery acid. The dull light was getting closer, spurring them on to sprint even harder. Orion had shifted Arktouros to its ax form, and hacked away at the trees behind them in an attempt to slow the Tyrant. With one last swing he chopped another tree down and returned his weapon to gauntlet form as he and the others finally made it out of the forest. Everything had gotten foggier and the skies ahead were cloudy. From where he was, he could see what looked like old, abandoned ruins in front of a large cliff face.

***Cue "The Things We've Done" by The Infinite Staircase***

"Shit!" Nemo swore aloud as they all skid to a stop at the edge of a ravine, "We're stuck between an abyss and a giant death-trap with legs. I don't have enough aura left in the tank to float us all to those ruins, so what do we do?

Several hundred yards away, a Nevermore perched atop one of the ruins roared down at possibly other students and rained down a storm of feathers, earning a volley of pink explosions for its trouble. The gun fire and sounds of battle continued until the giant raven-beast flew through one of the walkways. Orion looked back at the forest, birds and trees flying as the Tyrant advanced on them. Clenching his fists, Orion was the first to speak, "It's time we make our stand!"

Marian looked up at the bear faunus in shock and could feel her color drain with every thunderous step the tyrannosaur-like Grimm took. "You-you want us to fight that thing? Are you insane?!"

Xienna, however, found herself in agreement with Orion. "It's not like we have any other choice. Either we die falling down a cliff, or we go down swinging."

Orion nodded and took a fighting stance, never taking his eyes off of the Emerald Forest and its monstrous occupant. "This is where we hold it. This is where we FIGHT!" he banged his fists together with a loud clang as he thought about how much he sounded like his father at the moment.

"This is where it dies!"

CRASH

CRASH

With one final plop of its feet, the Tyrant broke out of the trees with authority and turned its menacing red eyes on the four students. The horn-like protrusion on its snout was smeared with the forest's foliage, and was at least as tall as Nemo. The beast was covered in bony white armor from the horn to the tip of its tail, spikes decorating its shoulders and spine. To their collective eyes, there were few weak spots on the 60-foot tall monster. The Tyrant took a deep breath, reared back, and let out another challenging roar that shook the air around them, its gargantuan maw aimed at the heavens.

"If we die, I'm killing you on the other side, Orion," Nemo warned.

"Cool story, Nemo," Orion jabbed, his teeth bared as the Grimm charged, "Everybody reloaded?"

Marian slid the action on the Rapid Fire as she chambered a fresh round from her new clip to confirm as Nemo gave an affirmative grunt. Xienna felt out of place knowing her friends all had some form of firearm while she didn't, but she wasn't exactly a stranger to it.

"Xienna and Marian, you two split to the left. Nemo, take the right. Ready? Move!" Orion barked as the four charged to fight the Tyrant. The other three split to where they were told to run while the bulky bear faunus charged to meet the Grimm head-on. Nemo and Marian opened fire along the side of the Tyrant, aiming for the unarmored hide underneath as Xienna made quick stabs and slashes along its leg and right side. The attacks managed to open up some decent wounds, but none that would deter it from bulldozing them all.

Nemo looked to the two girls. "Marian, how much more ammo do you have?"

The guardian checked her belt for her reserve clips of ammo then looked back at Nemo and answered, "I've got three more clips to spare. Why? You're weapon can't take my ammunition, and we need to give him some backup."

"I know; he may be strong but I don't think he can match that thing. The minute we see him, hold your fire. Until then, unload what you can into that thing's hide!"

"EAT THIS!" Orion bellowed as he planted his hands right on its open jaws, holding them open with all of his might as he managed to slow it to a crawl. As he attempted to stalemate it, he noticed the others shooting it the legs and underbelly where they left their marks. He waited until he was at least thirty yards from the edge before he twisted the jaws downward and leapt on top of its armored skull, raining down punch after punch to keep the staggering beast's momentum going. With one final slam of his fists, Orion put the Grimm's face into the dirt and jumped off as it slid across the floor towards the chasm. Overhead, the Nevermore appeared to be eating a ball of fire as shots and explosions rang out from its beak. He would have smiled, were it not for the Tyrant sinking its claws into the dirt to stop sliding further, and stood back up just short of the edge.

"Damn! I was hoping it'd be dumb enough to keep sliding," Orion said as he turned to the others behind him, each dumbstruck at the bold move, "at least now it's the one with its back to the cliff and not us."

"Yeah, but now what are going to do?" Nemo asked as he reloaded Nautilus. Orion turned to Marian and Xienna; Marian was pale and wide-eyed looking at the Tyrant, like she was staring at a ghost or was reliving a terrible nightmare. Xienna looked like she was about to pass out from exhaustion, her eyes appearing droopy and her body shaking. There were only twenty-five yards between them and the Grimm as they advanced on it. They had to end this now.

"Marian and Xienna, I need you two to distract it and take its legs out. Stay as far away from the head as possible."

Marian and the runaway both nodded in agreement as they made their way towards the cornered Grimm. Nemo looked at him in confusion as he wondered what his role was, and more importantly, what exactly Orion had cooked up as a plan. "What are we doing?"

The mauler turned to his partner and didn't hesitate in asking "How much force can you put into that semblance of yours?"

"About enough to rock you like a hurricane, but that takes a lot out of me…why?"

"I need you to hit me with that same kind of wind. Wait for my cue, though; it won't be good if we misjudge our timing."

Nemo contemplated what he meant until he remembered the fight with the Blood Hounds and how he seemed to dodge when it seemed impossible with that close-quarter slugger style of his. The rebel started funneling wind into his palms with the last of his available aura and replied, "Got it; give them a hand and let me know when you're ready."

Orion nodded, shifting Arktouros to crossbow-form and raining a storm of kinetic Dust-headed bolts on the Tyrant. Marian and Xienna glanced back before taking advantage of the assault, each jumping to latch on to the Tyrant's legs like ticks. But ticks didn't have swords, and the two hacked and slashed away at the shadow-black hide, each cut deeper than the last and earning grunts and snarls of pain from the giant Grimm. As good as the amount of damage being done was, the Tyrant began to realize what was going on and attempted to shake off its attackers.

Marian dug her machete into its leg and yelled across to Xienna, "You go down there and take out its legs! I'll distract it up here…Go for the ankles, and watch its tail!"

Xienna was about to protest so she could stay and help up top until Orion barked as loud as he could, "Xienna, NOW!"

Without being told a third time, she jumped down and dragged her arm-sword all the way down until she jumped down to its heel. The runaway thrust Viper as deep as she could before a yank and sickening series of rips tore the Tyrant's ankle apart and brought it to a knee. Meanwhile, Marian held onto a back spine and opened fire with at its head to get its attention…but to her horror she froze as its hateful orbs stared daggers at her. As it bellowed another angry roar, a series of explosions nailed it in the neck and face from one crouching bear faunus' gatling crossbow. Orion focused on his semblance, eyeing the Tyrant's movements for a shot that won't miss and hit the frightened guardian.

'It's dropping lower to the ground, head's about to go down…hmm, that horn needs to come off.' He thought as he timed the Grimm's movement and opened fire with another salvo of burn-Dust. The attack cracked the horn enough for a lone kinetic-Dust bolt to blow it off of its face, the mauler relishing the pained scream it released. At that moment, Xienna was almost done with the other ankle until a massive foot kicked her away and into the bushes until there was a loud thud and birds flew off, disturbed by the impact.

"Xienna!" Marian shouted with concern as she hopped off of the Tyrant to check on her partner. Orion swore under his breath as he shifted Arktouros to its ax-form and slammed it blade first into the ground, the kinetic Dust amplifying its power to cut a gash that ended at the edge of the cliff and caught the Tyrant's foot. Shifting it back to the gauntlets, Orion aimed his left fist at the Grimm's exposed midsection and shot his grappling blade into its gut.

"Nemo on my mark, launch me at its belly!" he said to his partner, whose hands were now holding a swirling ball of concentrated wind. He watched as the Tyrant attempted to stand on its damaged leg only to stagger back down and roar up to the heavens, the fog dancing around the air as it did.

"What the hell are you about to do?" Nemo asked as the winds continued to rage in his hands.

"I'm gonna go right into it," Orion said before he took a three-point stance and yelled "MARK!"

FWOOM

The second the blast of air hit, he kicked off the ground and reeled himself towards the titan at break-neck speeds thanks to Nemo. Something that would have been a few seconds turned into a blink of an eye when Orion flew across the expanse, reached the fallen horn and held on to it tightly. With his semblance he made the right adjustment to his path and thrust the horn forward to its unarmored belly…

'Time to say goodbye' he mentally snarled.

SPLURCH

Orion and his makeshift spear slammed into the Tyrant like a missile, the horn plunging through its disgusting innards with a snarling Orion in tow. The titanic Grimm toppled like a skyscraper from the impact, dead before it could no longer feel the cliff in its free-fall but not without one final roar of defiance.

**-End Song-**

Nemo was exhausted after using just short of his last bit of aura for Orion's insane plan. He fell slightly before jamming Nautilus into the ground and leaning on it to keep himself standing. Marian appeared up ahead, Xienna draped over her arms after being kicked like a ball as both stood slack-jawed at the flying bear faunus and the Tyrant's fall.

The black-haired girl didn't hesitate to tease her partner after they recovered from the awesome scene, "You and trees just don't get along, do you?"

Xienna squinted at her as she sighed, "Oh shut up, Marian…wait, where's Orion?"

The tired rebel looked up and around as the question sank in. The faunus had yet to show up anywhere after ramming the Tyrant to its death. He and the others ran to the edge, stopping just short of the edge. He listened for anything, whether it was grunts of exhaustion or the sound of blades digging into the rocky wall…but he and the others heard nothing. There's no way he could've made it out of there, even if he was as crazy as his plan.

Marian was the first to say anything. "I can't believe he's gone."

Nemo let out a deep sigh and attempted to eulogize, "Yes, Orion's dead. It's a sad day. But he died as I'm sure he lived; fighting like a lunatic. He will be missed…until we get a replacement, and then forgotten immediately."

"Maybe we should look over the edge, just in case," Xienna suggested, wiping away a tear.

"I think looking would get our hopes up, and I'm sure Orion wouldn't like that."

Marian glared at Nemo like he'd just slapped a baby, "It wouldn't even take a second!"

An irritated voice echoed from the cliff, "Oh for Oum's sake, just look over the damn edge!"

The three students looked down over the edge, and sure enough a gore-covered Orion had one of his gauntlets buried into the cliff face by the blade. Xienna and Marian shot dirty looks at a now very apologetic Nemo, who quickly asked "How did you even get out of that mess?"

Orion stared at him for a second before answering "You didn't see me shoot out of its back?"

The other three all shook their heads before he shook his head and laughed, "Well you guys missed out on that. Now hurry up and pull me up, because I don't want to be here all day."

Nemo saw the chance and took it. "And here I thought you'd like just hanging out."

"Oh just pick me up," his partner said unamused, reaching up so that they could grab his arm and pull him up so he could punch the blue-haired Vacuan in the face for the bad joke.

* * *

One left jab and several minutes later, the four of them were on their way back to the cliffs. Tired, low on ammo and in Xienna's case, concussed, the four of them began their trek once more back to the Beacon Cliff. Nemo and Marian took rear flanking points, Orion taking lead, and Xienna in the middle to keep her out of more trouble; the last thing they needed was another Grimm attack.

"Did you really need to hit me for the hanging out joke?" Nemo asked as continued to rub his jaw. For a jab, it certainly felt like a right cross from hell when it connected. While he was initially mad about it, he remembered that he was also the one to say don't look over the edge and then crack a joke at the faunus' expense. That didn't make the hit hurt any less, though.

"Yes. That joke was bad and now you feel bad. Call it a fair trade"

"Right, well I'm just letting ya know, if you crack a lame joke not now, not tomorrow, not even next week, but sometime in the future, I get to hit you."

"What the hell? This isn't some sort of slap-bet kind of antic...you know what? Screw it, I'll humor you."

Marian and Xienna both laughed at the exchange. Marian still wasn't exactly sure what to make of Nemo, even if he did help put down a Tyrant. He was real quick to want to leave the ruins and think Orion was dead, even suggesting that they don't bother looking over the edge to see. Thankfully, the bear faunus was too stubborn to let that be his end when he was hanging on the stone wall. She then turned her attention back to the front, where the stocky boy at the lead held up a hand and slowly closed it, signaling everyone to stop.

"What is it Orion?" she asked.

He stood stark still as he said, "Hold on you guys… I hear something up ahead."

As the sound of their footsteps stopped, the others were able to hear it as well. Up ahead was a group of students, the sound of multiple feet, weapons moving about, and voices confirming it. Orion listened carefully, hearing several familiar voices and names.

"I told you I could make the shot. I don't why you doubted me."

"Who said I doubted you, Weiss? It was just a question."

"That was awesome how you got the shield to come back to you after you threw it, Pyrrha. How did you do that?"

"It was just a calculated throw, Jaune. It took a while to get the hang of doing that with Akoúo̱. Good call on the Death Stalker, though."  
'Always the overly humble one,' Orion thought as he smiled and whistled loudly, the sound broken into a seven syllable tune. Nemo, Marian, and Xienna cocked their heads in confusion as Orion chuckled at their expense; very few knew of this coded whistle. Before the others could ask him, a responding and similar tune was whistled back. To them and the other students, it was just a whistle, but for him and Pyrrha back at Sanctum, they stood for only one thing…

'Oly Oly Oxen Free. We're all out in the free. We're all free.' He remembered with an internal smile

The four of them began moving towards the other students when a girl's voice piped up "Oh, Pyrrha's got a secret call too, Ren!"

Orion recognized that extremely jubilant voice with extreme displeasure and screamed internally 'Oh you've got to be kidding me' with an eye twitch as he remembered how he'd been awoken earlier in the morning.

"Can I try mine?"

The voice of her friend Ren seemed to try and warn "Nor-, "before being cut off by a bizarre animal call.

"KUR-AHH! KURRR-AHHH!"

A younger, more innocent voice asked "What is she trying to imitate?"

Ren sighed, "She thinks it's a slo-"

The smaller girl put a hand over his mouth and panicked, "DON'T GIVE AWAY THE SECRET, REN!"

The rest of their group continued to laugh until the bushes rustled with movement. Everyone but Pyrrha stood on alert with weapons at the ready, waiting for another fight with the Grimm. The sound of twigs snapping and other movement continued to get closer until finally…

"Don't shoot!" Orion said with haste as he and the others hacked their way out of the brush to meet them all, the faunus bringing Arktouros back to gauntlet form. "Good to see you all made it out in one piece."

The sound of weapons being holstered filled the air as Ruby asked Orion "What happened to you?"

Orion was confused until he remembered why he was covered in blood. "What-oh, you mean this? I exploded out of a Tyrant's back."

"Wow! Rubes, we might have competition for most impressive kill of the day." Yang teased her sister before turning to the other four and asking, "So, who are you guys?"

Everyone had introduced themselves uninterrupted, but as Orion introduced himself to those he hadn't met yet, Nora cut him off, "Hey, you're the grumpy guy from this morning!"

"And you must've killed the previous Captain Obvious to take the title. You woke me up while you were waking you're friend Ren," he quipped.

"You're welcome!" she said cheerily.

"It was four hours early!" he countered as he held his face in his hand.

"Anyway," Marian interrupted, "We should probably all keep moving. We've got more numbers now, so unless a horde of Grimm come charging out of the woodwork, we should be good."

The amber-eyed brunette, Blake, spoke up finally, "We're actually not too far from the cliff. Maybe another five or ten minutes until we reach the top."

"How do you know that?" Jaune asked. The girl fell back into silence as she pointed to an array of trees marked with gaping slashes, apparently by her doing at the start of the initiation.

Nothing more was said but small chit-chat as they all made their way back to the cliff. The mauler was walking next to Blake when he glanced at her bow with a questioning look, which got a mixed stare of anger and pleading back from the girl. He understood why some of their kind would hide their traits, but at the same time they shouldn't be scared to show who and what they are. By the look of it, she seemed to have walked that fine line before.

"Hey, I can see the cliff face!" piped up Ruby

Weiss gave sigh of relief as they broke through the trees "Finally! Now we can get some–"

ARROOOOO

The heiress gulped "Uh, rest?"

The baying of the Beowolves continued as the students quickly clambered up Beacon Cliff, every one of them with weapons drawn and firing to propel them faster upwards. Xienna looked back and saw a thick line of the Grimm ascending from the forest and in pursuit up the cliff. If the fact that they were in pursuit wasn't enough, how fast they were closing in made it worse for the runaway. Just short of the top, Orion and Yang turned and prepared to lay a beat down on them with their gauntlets at the ready when a stream of aura arrows and gunfire beat them to it, mowing the wolf-like beasts down.

The initiates all looked up, the teams of JSPR and SLSC meeting them and pulling them up save leaders Jameson Powell and Stella Argent. While their teammates stopped to help the initiates, the two of themwere having a competition of who could kill the most Beowolves with headshots. Initially it seemed even until…

"Say 'AHHH,' mother-"

BOOM

"Headshot. That's what, twelve for me and how many for you, Stella?" the marksman joked.

The archer smirked and, with a shot of her bow Astral Tempest, fired six arrows of pure aura that twisted and turned to nail as many Grimm. "Looks like seventeen, Jameson. Nice try, but better luck next time."

Jameson mumbled as he put away the Albatross sniper rifle, "Damn that arrow manipulation of hers."

The two leaders approached them, Stella being the only one to say anything as Jameson pouted in his defeat, "You guys go on back to campus. We're going to be here until the last of you first years make it back to the cliffs. So in the meantime, take a shower and relax."

"Yeah Orion, you really need a shower," Yang joked at the bear's expense as she pinched her nose shut, "Pew!"

"Says the one who smells like they showered in Nevermore spit," the mauler jabbed back, unaware of the blonde brawler's fiery disposition even as he sniffed the air.

"Something's burning."

* * *

A couple of hours and a hot shower later, Ozpin held the announcement ceremony in the amphitheater for teams before all of them could gorge on dinner.

"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by... Cardin Winchester!"

The overhanging, projected screens rotated the four students' pictures to show this. While many clapped at their announcement, Orion held his applause. He didn't forget about the incident earlier in the morning, and he secretly hoped that Winchester tried to pull that stunt again. A guy like that in a leadership role meant bad things for that team, unless the rest already had a similar mindset. Ozpin then motioned over Pyrrha's team, and Orion knew that if anyone on that team was capable of leading it, it would be her.

Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR. Led by... Jaune Arc! "

The mauler was internally screaming "WHAT!?" and it seemed the blonde knight shared his thoughts.

"Huh? L-Led by...?" Jaune stammered.

Ozpin cracked a faint smile and said"Congratulations, young man."

Pyrrha was certainly taking it better, as she gave her new leader a friendly shoulder bump that knocked him to the floor and sent everyone into laughter.

The headmaster then motioned for Orion and the others to come up to the stage. The four each stood in line next to their partner, hands crossed behind their back at attention.

"Orion Arguros. Marian Alexander. Xienna Henderson. Nemo Outisseus. The four of you retrieved the white pawn pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team ONAX. Led by…Orion Arguros!"

As applause broke out, Marian and Xienna exchanged high fives with their new leader. Nemo, however, didn't share too much of their enthusiasm. It was a change of pace from going it alone, but the insane strategies of his partner-now-leader made him wary of this decision. That was one thing he didn't miss from Tocsin: people in a position of power, like many of his former classmates, are almost always ready to abuse it. Orion would be no different.

"And finally: Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose!"

Orion couldn't help but smile as Yang embraced her sister with pride. If Carmine were made a team leader, even his leader if he got accepted early, he would have done the same thing. As the cheers continued, Ozpin beaconed Orion over to him, which the young faunus obliged.

"Of all the pieces at the temple, you chose the pawn instead of pieces with higher value like the king. Why is that, if you don't mind me asking?"

Orion just looked at him and shrugged, "At the end of the game, the king and pawn go in the same box. It's something my mother always told me."

A smile appeared at the on the headmaster's face "It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year."

* * *

Blitz had had one hell of a week. Between the almost foiled heist and hearing her employer babble on about the "necessities she almost lost to a little girl," she needed a drink. Hayes was left in charge of the warehouse, which was both reassuring and frightening. Reassuring because she knew the idiot was dependable, but frightening because he was very inept as a fighter and if something were to go wrong…there'd be no safety for him to crawl to. Wandering around the docks of Vale was a nice change of scenery compared to that hole-in-a-wall town Sangre, and it helped that there was a certain someone she knew lurking the area too.

"We're going to need more men," she heard her old "associate" mutter.

"Why not a woman, Torchy?" she interjected, startling the criminal and his White Fang associate when they say her leaning on the doorway.

"Who- oh, you and I _both_ know why, Blitz. Don't think I forgot what happened the last time we spent time together. What are you even doing here, anyway?"

The enigma smiled and said almost playfully, "Oh you know, scoring some robberies here, hiding a dead body over there…the usual."

Roman narrowed his eyes, "So I've heard. Speaking of robberies, what's got you into stealing Dust and weaponry all of a sudden?"

It was her turn to narrow her eyes. "Let's just say you and I work for opposing sides of the field."

"Hmm, care to say over dinner?" Roman asked after mulling over what she meant.

Blitz thought about it for a second before answering "Eh, why not? Besides I could use the company of less idiotic folks."

"Did I just get a compliment from Blitz Ashcroft? Wow, what a night!" Roman jested.

She looked at him and said flatly, "I didn't say you were smart, Roman. No c'mon, let's go for a night on the town."

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, that was a thing! You can never go wrong quoting _Godzilla: Final Wars_' Captain Gordon in a fight scene like that. Couple of other references in there as well for you folks to find, so have fun!**

**And now, Thank-You notes time!**

**+grimmreaper90: Thank you! Hope the fight lives up to expectations.**

**Don't forget to fave, follow, and leave a review, ladies and gentlemen. This is SpanishBulldog63 signing out and saying Happy Reading!**


	9. Chapter 5: Class is in Session

Chapter 5: Class is in Session

_THUD_

_THUD_

_"O, what do we do? WHAT DO WE DO?"_

_CRASH_

_"We don't have a choice, Carmine. We're gonna have to –ACK!"_

_A sinister voice snarled, venom lacing every word as it grabbed the young faunus by the throat. "Do what, fight? Oh please, humor me you little beasts…."_

_A blade was raised, poised to strike him down…_

_"GYAAAAAAAH!"_

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Orion gasped and jumped in a cold sweat, clutching his throat and face as he looked around the room. His teammates were waking up as well, and none seemed to enjoy their alarms going off nor did they notice Orion coated in a cold sweat. They had spent a good portion of the night waiting on each other to shower and change after their festive dinner last night in the cafeteria. As much as he insisted that the ladies go first, Xienna and Marian shoved him in with some help from a gust of wind, courtesy of Nemo. It only took him 30 minutes to rid himself of the stench and yet the others took their sweet time before the room was silent after three hours of showers and complaining.

"That was probably the best sleep I'd gotten in months!" Marian yawned as she wiped her face free of sleep. She didn't know about them but it was definitely true for her. The smaller girl on the other bed seemed to echo it, wiping a stray strand of drool from her mouth that caused her teammates to laugh at her expense. Xienna looked down at her pillow to find a small pool of it, her face reddening in embarrassment.

"Someone must've been hungry in their sleep," Nemo chuckled as she narrowed her eyes at him. Without a second thought, Xienna dug through her bag and found a mirror and held it for him to see across the room.

"And someone must've visited the cows overf at the local dairy," she retorted as the sailor's laughing slowly died. The hair on one side of his head arched up and over his head in a giant cowlick while the rest of it wrapped around his neck or stuck out as if he were electrocuted. The others laughed as he rushed to wet all down in the sink. Orion was glad he decided to keep his hair short; less upkeep, and more efficient in the field and in a fight.

Orion looked back at his scroll to check the time. "Well, our first class starts at 9, so we've got about an hour to get ready. As soon as he's done there, let's grab our uniforms and change. Sound like a plan?"

Xienna looked at her luggage before turning to the silver-haired faunus, "What about unpacking our stuff and everything?"

Orion shrugged as he eyed his own bag, "I'm thinking we do that after dinner…if you don't eat your way into another food coma, that is."

"Hey, that rotisserie chicken was delicious, and the mashed potatoes were even better! Besides, you and Blake had a stare-down over that piece of fish, so you can't say the food last night _wasn't_ that good," she retorted. After the ceremony last night, they sat with teams RWBY and JNPR for the celebratory dinner and exchanged their stories from initiation. Apparently Nora and Ruby had the same idea in mind by riding a Grimm to the temple. Ruby and a very hesitant Weiss had hitched a ride on a giant Nevermore, evidently the same one that was fought at the ruins. Nora, to Ren's chagrin, managed to ride an Ursa just short of the temple before "breaking" it. She may be a bit of a pest, but Orion had to give the girl credit where it was due. Killing Grimm was one thing, but to ride one like a beast of burden is unheard of.

After Jaune let it slip that he was the one who let out the echoing scream, everyone had burst into laughter while Orion went for the last slab of salmon, deliciously seasoned with lemon pepper. As he stabbed his fork in, another from across the table parried with it for the fish, and to his surprise it was Blake. The two faunus looked up from their forks at each other, staring darts at one another as their friends slowly took notice of the confrontation. Orion, without breaking eye-contact, yanked the plate away and cut the meal in two, much to the girl's narrow-eyed surprise and very obvious annoyance.

"Hey, if I couldn't have the whole thing, neither could she," he laughed as Nemo got out and Marian rushed in.

"Don't take too long!"

* * *

Orion kept tugging at the white collar and red tie of his uniform. He never adjusted to wearing such formal clothes well; even if they managed to tailor it to fit his shoulders comfortably, he still felt liek some of his movement was restricted. He had to admit though that the gold-trimmed black suit looked good. The four of them managed to make it out to class with twenty minutes to spare in order to find room for Grimm Studies. It may have required a trip down to the other side of the campus on the ground floor, but at least it helped get an idea of where some of the classes and other dorms were. One of the dorms, CFVY if he remembered right, had a carving on the door; a pair of snakes coiled around each other in a spiral. Whatever it meant, he wasn't sure, but he couldn't help but feel that there was something bad about it.

Xienna zipped down the hallway at the sight of a few other first years, "Hey guys, I found the classroom! Hopefully we can get some good seats toward the front."

The classroom was built much like a small theater, and with the exception of the box sitting in the middle of the floor and an ax/blunderbuss on the wall, seemed like an ordinary classroom. The board was covered in posters of various Grimm, from Beowolves to Nevermores, and when he noticed the one for the Tyrant, he could feel Marian behind him shuddering. She'd seemed a little off ever since the encounter and he planned on talking to her about…of course that depended on whether she wanted to or not.

The red knight tilted her head in the direction of a few open rows of seats, "There are a few seats in the second row on the left half of the room. They're right by the door too…perfect!"

Nemo raised an eyebrow at this "How is that perfect, exactly?"

"Do _you_ want wade through the crowd on the way out?" she retorted, the same expression on her face.

The boy shrugged "…Fair enough."

At roughly 8:59, teams RWBY and JNPR barreled through the doorway in a heap, barely on time before Professor Port stepped out of his office to begin class. The eight students were red with embarrassment as they took their seats by ONAX, with JNPR right next to them and RWBY in the very first row. Port took front and center of the room, his eyes and mouth hidden in the dark grey bushes he called eyebrows and a mustache.

"Monsters! _Deeeemons_... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as **prey**! Ha-ha!"

Maybe it was just her, but Xienna could hear crickets echoing in the room. By the look of it, no one shared the professor's sense of humor, if one could call it that to begin with. Orion, Nemo, Marian, and Weiss were heard jotting down the notes from the posters, while others like Ruby and Nora jolted awake. Not even five minutes had passed in the class, and he was already putting his students to sleep. If it was going to be like this all year, or even throughout her entire time at Beacon, she was in for a long four years.

Professor Port seemed to be notice the awkward silence as he continued on, "Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely _teeming_ with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..."

Orion caught the older man directing the latter to the blonde in front of him, who was on the receiving end of a very unsubtle and honestly creepy wink. He could hear her face-palm and groan in discomfort, his eyebrows rose at the very questionable conduct of the plump professor. 'Way to be professional, Port. Seriously, does anyone on the staff notice this behavior, either?' he mused

"…Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the _very world_!"

"Ayyyy-yep!" Everyone turned their attention to one boy on the other side of the classroom as he stood with his fist in the air. It was a few seconds before the kid realized every set of eyes in the room were focused on him, his face growing red from the attention he brought upon himself. Nemo recalled all that he did back home, all of the people now free of Pauley Neró and his suffocating hold on the coastal cities of Vacuo and Atlas. But none made him feel better than seeing the Neykia family that one last time before he set sail. Family friends, he knew just how much they lost…it was, after all, the reason he began his crusade in the first place.

"That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..."

Nemo felt himself dozing off as Port continued his "lecture," the lack of humility immediately boring him with the obvious exaggerations. Was this guy for real? Using your past as an example was one thing, but the older Huntsmen was using a narcissistic and overblown story of it and trying to pass it off as a lecture. The second he finished copying down the information on the posters he turned to Marian and Orion, a silent laugh across his face as he saw Xienna crash asleep face-first on the desk.

"Can you guys let me know when he gets to something that's actually relevant and worth being awake for? This is killing me," he pleaded with drowsy eyes.

Orion cocked an eyebrow at his partner "Dude, if we have to stay awake and suffer through this, you're suffering with us."

The two boys' glares met but were broken up by the professor's story, "...Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man. 'Peter', he told me..."

Orion's eye twitched at the awful story before he sighed, "You know what, the hell with it. I'm with ya on the sleep," and no sooner than when he said this the rebel was fast asleep. The faunus rested his head on his arms, his eyes getting sleepy as he noticed Yang and Blake giggling at their little leader's childish caricature of the mustachioed professor, to Weiss' obvious annoyance.

"Ah-heh-hem!" Of course, just as the two boys shut their eyes, the sound of Port clearing his throat for attention had them jolting back up into their seats, although his attention was more on the girls below them. "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my _sheer_ tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!"

While the others gave up on listening for anything substantial, Marian stood wide awake and fully attentive. She always enjoyed stories, true or not, and while the professor's was as farfetched as a duck fighting with a leek, she learned there was always a lesson to the tales. She recalled the story of a vengeful fisherman mercilessly hunting down a great, white Sperm whale that Natalie told her about one night. The captain was so driven by the loss of his leg that he defied all logic so he could kill the whale. But along the way, his crew had learned much about camaraderie and duty, two things she values most among peers, especially those she fought beside with.

"The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable!" A true Huntsman must be dependable! A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!"

'Cliché morals aside, he's not wrong. Even those who aren't Huntsmen must see these traits in their daily lives' she mused, her pride swelling with each sentence as she remembered her time with the village guardsmen. Her captain, among many of the veteran guardsmen, was the epitome of honor and reliability and if it weren't for him, she wouldn't be where she is now. But none of this sentiment would ever quell that guilt she felt when that…thing…. broke through the wall and led to the death of the one person she cared about the most.

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the _embodiment_ of these _traits_?"

Just as she raised her hand, a paler one shot up like a furious rocket as Weiss practically screamed "I do, sir!"

Professor Port reached up, grabbed his blunder-ax, and said with a hint of challenge "Well, then, let's find out!" as he took the ax-end and bashed the large box that had remained silent and still all class. Now, red eyes burned like embers from the depths of the box.

"Step forward, and face your opponent!"

* * *

Orion snapped awake at the sound of snorting and metal clanging to the floor.

"What's happeni- "he paused as he witnessed the heiress dodge a charging blur of black and white, her rapier on the other side of the room. "There's a Boarbatusk in the classroom…Why is there a Boarbatusk in the classroom?!"

Marian turned to see her leader awake and confused, and chuckled "See? That's why you don't sleep in class, Orion." He narrowed his eyes at her as she jokingly wagged her finger and continued "You know that big box we saw on the way in? It was in there the whole time. I guess the professor planned on having a student fight it whenever his story ended"

Below them, the leader of team RWBY called out to her teammate "Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-"

"STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" the icy Schnee shouted, anger tinging every word. Ruby was taken aback, cringing in hurt from the response. Orion shook his head; he knew that Weiss knew Ruby was only trying to help. It was obvious she's never fought something like it, and it's not that hard to listen for advice in the middle of something. He could see Marian was thinking the same, if not more, about what just happened.

As Orion turned his attention back to the fight in front of him, Weiss created a light-blue glyph that the Grimm smashed into and knocked itself senseless. She created another and jumped onto it, this one black, as she burst from her glyph and skewered the Boarbatusk through its unarmored belly, exactly as Ruby advised.

"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are _indeed_ in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training! I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and... stay _vigilant_! Class dismissed!"

Weiss stalked out of the room without a word or glance to her team. "Sheesh, what's with her?" Jaune asked from a few seats away. Orion turned and shook his head, "I don't know, I guess that's the million lien question today?"

"Whatever it is, she better fix it before I fix it for her." The two leaders turned to see Yang glowering at the door. Orion wasn't sure where the crackling sound came from, but he was positive it was those tightly clenched fists of hers. Before he could say anything to try and calm her down, his partner let off an enormous yawn and stretched as he finally woke up.

"So what did I end up missing in the last half of class?"

Orion stretched to shake Xienna awake, a puddle of drool under her face as Marian helped her blue-haired teammate up from his seat.

"We'll tell you on the way to our next class. Don't worry, Nemo; you didn't miss much of a lecture."

Nemo rubbed the sleep from his eyes when he asked, "What is our next class, anyway?"

"It's…uh…" she sputtered, her mind drawing a blank, "Orion, what is our next class?"

The burly faunus pulled out his schedule and scanned it when a mischievous smile crossed his face.

"What's guaranteed to be my favorite class."

* * *

"Welcome to PT and Dueling, or simply Combat Class if you prefer. You will be sparring against each other and graded by your adaptability, battlefield awareness, and overall combat skills. Matches will be arranged at random, and the number of matches a day will vary depending on how fast they go. If you wish to request a match in order to settle a dispute, then that will also be allowed under close supervision."

"This is going to be fun," Marian smiled, but her partner didn't share the other's enthusiasm and added "This is gonna suck."

"You'll be fine, Xienna. You displayed good fighting skill during Initiation, and surely you did so before you came to Beacon."

The petite runner thought back to her attempt back home at stopping that Ashcroft woman's heist. A small but meek-hearted smile crossed her face; the disappointment radiating from her father still tore at her heart. She looked at her other teammates, seeing how they felt about the class; Orion cracked his knuckles in anticipation and Nemo scanned the rest of the seated students as he quickly turned her way. She could feel her face burning with a blush.

A student in the back had raised their hand, which the professor acknowledged with a nod, "Will all of the matches be one-on one, or will there be team matches as well?"

"Yes, there will be team matches throughout the class. Just like the singles matches, they will be randomly assigned teams of students from other teams, or random team vs. team matches such as CRDL vs. RWBY for example. Are there any more questions?"

Silence resonated throughout the room as she continued, "Good. Now who will volunteer for the first match?"

Orion shot his hand through the air immediately, almost a split second before everyone else when he saw Goodwitch briefly shut her eyes in disbelief. He heard he mumble under her breath "I had a bad feeling it would be those two."

"Ok class, our match to start the year will be Orion Arguros and…" he looked around at the rest of the class when a thick yellow bracelet stood out in the air "Yang Xiao Long. Please make your way to the locker room and prep yourselves for the match."

The brawler looked over at his direction with a mischievous smile as she flung her hair over her shoulders to get a better look at her opponent. Their teammates looked back and forth between the two, and Ruby seemed to be on the nervous side about her sister stepping into the arena with him. Whether she was worried for him or her sister, but nonetheless he and the blonde made their way down from the stands to the locker room. As he rolled his shoulders to loosen up a bit, she ran to catch up with him, a cocky grin across her face.

"So, you ready for a fight, big guy? It'd be un_bear_able if you weren't."

Orion turned his head to see the blonde beaming at him and matched her grin with one of his own. "Are you, blondie, because-wait, did you just make a bear pun?"

"Yeah, what're you going to do about it?" she challenged.

Orion wagged his finger and retorted, "You'll see soon enough, short stack."

She punched him in the shoulder, and it was a lot harder than he expected. Yang may be the smaller of the two, but she definitely packed quite a punch…enough to make him stumble a bit. "Oh, I see things are gonna get _hairy_, aren't they?" Orion jabbed with a pun of his own.

Yang grinned at the retaliating pun and quipped "Keep playing with fire, Orion, and you're going to get burnt," punching him again in the shoulder as she hurried to her locker.

Orion smirked as he opened his locker, quickly changed and put Arktouros on. The lilac-eyed girl ran past him as she pointed from her eyes to his then punched her palm before exiting to the stage. The mauler flashed a toothy smile as he adjusted his jacket and chuckled "Oh, this is going to be a treat."

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, everyone. Had an emergency surgery mid-July and have been recovering since then. That aside, 2,027 views, 21 follows, and 14 favorites...yeah it doesn't seem like much, but to me it means a lot and is much more than I expected. Thank you everyone for your support of this story, and get ready for the fists to fly in the next chapter! But what was happening in that nightmare? Who was it that screamed before he woke up? Find out next time on Dragonball- wait, wrong franchise :p Oh, and was that a Pokémon and Hellsing Abridged reference I threw in there? I think it was ;)**

**Any who, how about that RTX, guys? I'm absolutely stoked about Volume 3. I mean, Vic Mignogna, the man behind Broly and Edward Elric, as Uncle Qrow? Elizabeth Maxwell, Major Kusanagi, as Winter Schnee? Neath Oum taking his brother's place as Ren?! A glance at how the tournament is going to be run? I'll take an order of yes with an extra-large side of YES! **

**And now, Thank-you notes! **

**+Dr3aMz: Thank you! I'm glad you've enjoyed the way the story is playing out. I've had this story cooking in my brain for a while, so I'm happy to hear that others are enjoying it as well. Thank you for the tip as well, because I definitely feel I left Nemo out in the cold a bit. **

**Don't forget to fave, follow, and leave a review, folks! This is SpanishBulldog63 signing out and saying Happy Reading! **


	10. Chapter 6: Here Comes the Sun

Chapter 6: Here Comes the Sun

Orion walked out to the stage as every eye in the room was now focused on him and the brawler, who was bouncing around on her feet in anticipation. Yang was dressed in a puffy-sleeved tan vest over a yellow crop top that sported a black burning heart. Over her short-shorts was a brown, pocketed belt holding a banner that bore the same heart emblem, and ended in a pleated skirt in the back with a white skirt underneath. Orion had to admit, his opponent looked good. He turned his gaze to the stands, some quiet, others making bets, and members of RWBY and ONAX cheering with the exception of Weiss and Nemo. From what he could see, the former was still seething from Port's class while Nemo appeared to be caught up in a betting conversation with Nora, much to Ren's dismay as his partner grew wild with the talks.

"50 lien says Orion wins by knockout" Nemo said as he flashed the money from his wallet.

"You're on!" Nora shouted cheerfully, jumping to her feet and pointing at him in challenge. "I've got 50 saying Yang knocks him out with style!"

"Nora-"

"C'mon Ren, let me have my gambling moment!"

"You can't just gamble at the drop of a hat though, especially on the first day No-"Ren felt a buzz from his scroll and, upon reading the message, grew a faint but thankful smile.

"The rules of the matches here will follow tournament rules that you all will see in the Vytal Festival," the class went abuzz at the news until the professor called their attention back to her. "When a combatant's aura falls into the red, as indicated both on the board above and on the fighters' scrolls, it will indicate that they are no longer fit for battle and the official may call the match."

Up in the stands, Xienna joined in on the betting mess with Nora and Nemo.

"Let me get in on the action, too! 30 lien, Orion wins by a landslide with aura exhaustion."

Meanwhile, Pyrrha had a slight smirk on her face while her teammates continued to bet, much to Marian and Ruby's confusion.

"If I was a gamblin' girl, I'd say you just put a bet down with the others, didn't you?" the village girl asked with piqued curiosity.

"Maybe, maybe not," Pyrrha replied coyly, "but the two of them are powerful fighters who favor close-quarter combat. I've known Orion to be very physical yet calculative, but I don't know as much about Yang."

Marian now turned to the red-hooded leader of RWBY, "Anything you wish to tell us about how Yang fights, Ruby? It's ok if you don't want to, though."

Ruby now piped up "It's a tough call before the match starts; your friend looks like a tough nut to crack, but if it's one thing Yang prides herself on, it's being the nutcracker. She's got a 'friend' who learned the hard way in downtown Vale."

"How bad was it?" Marian asked.

"Er...she might've, uh, broken a dance club and who knows how many people inside last week," the two older girls were slightly taken aback as Ruby added, "She sent the owner flying out of the window too, and I think they're still rebuilding the place."

Down below, Yang continued to bounce in place across from Orion, getting herself warmed and loosened up. The orange infinity scarf and the gray bandana on her left leg were bouncing around in the air as she continued to warm herself up. Of course, those weren't the only things bouncing that caught his attention, and Yang chuckled as she caught him red-handed. Before she said anything, a column of lights began to come online between their screens above. Orion, on the other hand, was content with counting down in his head.

**[cue ****Sonne (Clawfinger Remix) by Rammstein****]**

'One'

"Hey, eyes _up_, handsome. My gauntlets are up here."

'Two'

"What gauntlets?" he asked. 'Wait…handsome?'

'Three'

No sooner did he ask that that those large "bracelets" on Yang's wrists sprang up her entire forearm, revealing a belt of Dust shells in each gauntlet enveloped her hands.

'Four'

"How's this, Orion? No bullets, no blades," she said pointedly at the axe blades on her opponents' gauntlets, "Just you and me, and everything we've got."

'Five'

"You make it sound like a date," he chuckled.

'Six'

"Regardless, it's not often I meet someone who also likes to knuckle up, so you're on!" He said, retracting Arktouros' blades into their sheaths as the ever-bouncing Yang audibly clicked the safeties on Ember Celica.

'Seven'

"Who knows, maybe this could be an unofficial one if you're not seeing anyone? Loser pays for a snack in Vale sound like a deal?"

'Eight'

Orion shrugged, "Fine. Just remember, this is a dial-up, not a fight. But I'm _not_ going to dial down my moves."

'Nine'

"Ok, then neither will I."

The moment the large light at the bottom of the column shined green, Professor Goodwitch shouted "GO!"

The two stormed towards each other like rival bulls out of the gate, a yellow gauntlet aimed immediately towards Orion's face. Without hesitation, Orion leaned back and slid under Yang's right cross, his right arm extended to club her legs out from under her with success. As she hit the floor, Orion grabbed her by the ankle, flung her up into the air for him to grab her around the waist and deliver a thunderous suplex. But Yang was far from giving up as she rolled backwards to her feet and clubbed Orion with a left hammerfist and a vicious right on his way back up, a blow that staggered him harshly back down to a knee. Orion saw an opening as she telegraphed a follow-up punch and blasted her off her feet with an explosive clothesline that turned Yang inside-out to the cold floor below. As forearm met face, an echo of "oooohs" resounded from their fellow students, many of who began to count loud to ten.

"ONE"

"TWO"

"THREE"

"Is that all you got, _Cubber_ Lang?" he could hear Yang jest as she got back to her feet at the 4 count. Those rooting for her began to cheer as loudly as they could. Turning back to the rising Yang, Orion yanked her up by the shoulder and hauled off with a combination that started from the midsection to the head and knocked him back with a wicked elbow to the temple. As Yang stepped back, he advanced with a wild haymaker only to be rebuked with a solid hook that made him spin on his heel.

"Oh wow, that one actually hurt!" Orion quipped as he rubbed his jaw, "Think you can keep that up?"

"Can you?" was all he got for an ominous retort as Yang began to trade blows with her taller opponent, their auras flaring with each landed hit, as few as they were as Orion and Yang bobbed and weaved through each other's onslaughts. It was rare for her to be outmatched or on par with others like this, but what Orion and many others didn't know was that his attacks were working in _her_ favor. Blocking a jab and ridge hand combo, Yang punched between his guard and caught him with a 1-2 jab and right hook. Again he was spun around by her punch, but this time he suckered her in as she rushed for a finish and nailed her in the temple with a heel kick. Following with a front kick-side kick combo, the class once again counted loud to ten as she crashed to the ground.

'She can't handle a kick-based offense. Odd, especially since her stance and style scream kickboxer…' he concluded as he now combined strikes with kicks to press the offense. He couldn't help but also get the feeling that her lilac eyes were tinting red as the match continued, not to mention how her hits felt harder with each successful strike. He also felt how much hotter the stage had gotten …or was that just him? Another jab-hook combo from Yang was countered with a sweep kick followed by a snap-front kick for distance.

"Aw, why the sudden change-up?" she asked teasingly, charging back at him and blocking an outside crescent kick at the last second "C'mon, we were having so much fun decking each other!"

"Humph, I guess play time's over, Yang…err ah!" he grunted, shifting his momentum to his left leg and whipping it into her ribs, the unexpected hit sending her careening past Ms. Goodwitch and into the wall behind her. The sound of stone and foundation cracking and falling reverberated from the area and once again, students counted down to ten. Orion bounced from one foot to the next in anticipation, tossing his silver jacket next the professor with his tattooed chest and wide shoulders on display. Professor Goodwitch quickly sent a quick message on her scroll to her assistant before things got too out of hand.

Sure enough, Yang sprinted from the wall with renewed vigor to meet Orion once more, as did the burly faunus from the other side of the stage. Orion and Yang jumped towards each other in the midst of their charges, but Orion's semblance gave him enough of a trajectory change to ram her in the midsection as they met in mid-air. He could hear the wind blast from her lungs as they rolled to the ground before Orion, with just one arm, shot-put Yang into one of the light fixtures' base in the wall, much to Goodwitch's audible annoyance. Not letting up, he rushed to engage her once more but didn't expect a kick to send him tumbling back to where he started from.

Yang took the offensive now, hitting him with another solid right hand but now immediately followed with a spinning left elbow and right hammerfist that made Orion see a few stars. Orion tried to bounce back after getting some space with a palm strike to her solar plexus, but she retaliated in kind with a shot to the knee and torpedoed off the ground with an uppercut. Flat on his back, the only thing Orion could do was kick Yang away before he reengaged her and trapped her arms in a double overhook, stepped in, and flung her like a rag doll to the other side of the stage.

"You're a _fiery_ one, aren't you? Well _Yang_ in there, it's time to cool you off," he quipped as he quickly rose back to a fighting stance.

Yang now stepped forward, her eyes never leaving Orion and her teeth grinding in fury. "That wasn't _bear_-y nice of you-" She spaced out as her eyes drifted towards a shiny blur on the floor…a large lock of her hair on the floor and as she glared back to Orion she noticed strands caught in the joints of his gauntlets' fingers.

"You…" Orion stopped bouncing in place as a familiar crackling sound grew louder and the stage suddenly turned into a giant heat pad as the air visibly shimmered with heat. She then burst into an explosion of fire as it surrounded her shapely form and warped the floor as her eyes now shined a furious, blood-lusted red, "YOU'RE A DEAD MAN, ARGUROS!"

* * *

"Ruby…" Pyrrha and the rest of ONAX uttered warily from the stands, "What's going on?"

"Yeah…I probably should've mentioned that she's very protective of her hair."

* * *

All Orion could utter was "Oh crap…" before Yang exploded towards him, leaving a fiery trail in her wake as she decked Orion with a fiery haymaker. As he sailed through the air, he couldn't help but admire how she glowed like a burning star, even as she chased his flying form. Orion was sent spiraling into the wall behind him with a loud smack, not even getting a second to recover before Yang was back in his face and wailing on him.

"C'mon Smokey, try and put out this fire…I DARE YA!" she snarled as she continued her assault, half of her hits landing thanks to Orion's semblance and her lack of control, but each one that did hit was a doozy. Just as Yang did before, Orion kicked her away. He dizzily glanced up at the board; his aura had taken a dive to yellow from his semblance use and her barrage, but Yang's was down to the also down to mid-yellow. The two fighters charged and threw wild right hooks at each other, Arktouros colliding with Ember Celica to create a shockwave from the combined force and shatter the floor beneath them, sending debris scattering all over the room. If Orion didn't know any better, he'd say that punch just helped her out because now he could feel her strength growing with a vengeance…growing as strong as him if not barely stronger.

"You should be running…" Yang said with a cruel smile as she now eyed Orion's chest tattoos amidst her inferno with slight admiration, "Nice ink. I _mustache_ you a question about those, but I'll _shave_ it for later…"

WHAM

A powerful left hook from Yang sent Orion skidding across the rubble like a stone and into the wall. The booms from both hits echoed throughout the room, everyone feeling their impacts. As he jumped back to his feet he leapfrogged over Yang's charge. He needed to use his semblance to dodge her quicker, but he'd need to ration his aura to stay at least in the high orange. Once again she catches him and assaults him from with a flurry of head-to-midsection combinations. 'So, she gets stronger…ow… when she gets hit, but with her anger her attacks…damn this smarts… are frenzied, reckless, and overly predictable…' he analyzed as he got hammered with a blazing uppercut, 'I know how to get her.'

"Is that all you got, _Sparky_? Come on!" Orion bellowed in challenge.

With a crack of her knuckles and neck she glowered at him and snarled "You're cooked!"

Orion saw the opportunity and took it. "Medium-rare, or Well Done?"

"Shut up! Puns are _my_ thing!"

"Jeez Yang, _simmer_ down…" which she didn't as she had her hands around his neck and squeezed.

"CHOKE ON YOUR PUNS!"

Orion kicked his hyperkinesis into effect one last time, aiming for a jumping left roundhouse which she predictably caught while slamming a vicious blow to his ribs on their way to the ground. Orion simultaneously hitched his kicking leg over her shoulder, grabbed her free arm, and held her in a rubber guard, his body now feeling just how much heat the fiery Yang emitted. The only thing between them now was burning air and his right leg.

"Face it; you've met your _match_!" she growled jokingly through clenched teeth. Try as she might, she couldn't break free from his grip.

Orion simply winked at her, "This was a _tinder_ encounter, but we have _burned_ too much time. So, allow me to put the fire-"in a split second Orion thrust his right leg under Yang's neck and trapped her left arm under it while he clamped his left leg over her neck. Pulling on his left leg with as much might necessary, Orion had Yang trapped in the gogoplata. Her fighting spirit dwindled with each breath and each punch thrown Orion's way until her aura fell to the red and she went slightly limp.

"-Out."

**[end song]**

The room was a flurry of murmurs as everyone watched Orion carefully releases his hold and help Yang shakily to her feet. Yang was advised by Orion to take deep, controlled breaths after being locked in the choke hold. Sensing that she couldn't stand too well just yet, Orion put her arm across his shoulders so she could use him as a stand.

"And that's the match." Miss Goodwitch spoke up to silence the crowd. "Students, as you can see, Ms. Xiao Long's aura fell into the red. As I mentioned before, in a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Yang is no longer fit for battle and the official may call the match."

The professor then turned to Orion and Yang, the students wincing with their breaths. "Mr. Arguros, I know you were more than capable of finishing that match sooner than you did. You are no stranger to engaging in such combat after your four years in the Mistral Regionals, but this could also be attributed to the agreed terms you two had before the match. It seems you, as your father used to do and would put it, 'toy with your food.' However, you also fought and strategized to your opponent's style. You also made use of the environment and drew Miss Xiao Long into making bull-headed decisions."

She then rounded on Yang and broke down her performance. "Miss Xiao Long, you goaded Mr. Arguros into fighting your fight knowing full well that your terms would give you the advantage. However, you failed to take advantage of your openings when you had the chance or broke through his guard. Finally, the most important thing you must learn to do is control your anger; after you lost control upon seeing your hair, your attacks were too out of control and too predictable. You must reign in your anger, otherwise one of these days someone will lure you to your demise."

Orion and Yang were then told to go back to the stands as Professor Goodwitch now asked the class about the match, starting with how one would engage in close-quarters combat versus their own style of combat. Orion continued helping Yang to their teams' seats and along the way he couldn't help but notice a piercing glare from her little sister. He couldn't blame her: Carmine would have been the same way if not already pouncing on his assailant with unrestrained fury.

Ruby scooted over to make room for her sister while Pyrrha started to collect on her bet with the others. Orion didn't expect her of all people to throw in a bet on the fight until he saw her decline Nora's stake upon the shorter girl handing it over dishearteningly. 'Always being the nice one, Pyr…you're almost too nice sometimes.'

Nemo was applauding the two haggard warriors on their way up. "That was quite a show you two put on down there. I hadn't seen a slugfest like that in quite a while, but way to cost me 50 lien, Orion!"

"You're welcome, bud." Orion smirked before turning to the speechless leader of JNPR, "You ok there, Jaune?"

Jaune continued to look in slack-jawed awe between Orion, Yang, and the devastated stage where they clashed before finally saying "You guys did all of that…with just a fist-fight?"

"To be fair, she's got an _explosive_ disposition-"

Yang perked up and narrowed her eyes at Orion "Did you just-"

"-And she packs a wicked punch to boot."

At this, she calmed down and snorted "Thanks. I totally had you on the ropes though."

"Yeah, I'll let you think that," Orion snorted. "Anyways, we have another class after this, don't we?"

Everyone was about to file through their schedules when Blake spoke up from her quiet end of the bleachers, "History with Professor Oobleck. It looks like our last class for the day."

"Wow, only three classes today? That's not too bad." Xienna replied, at which point Marian interjected, "Don't forget about the homework, because we have quite a bit of reading from Grimm Studies already. I can only imagine how much we'll get in History."

Xienna deadpanned "Gee, thanks Captain Buzzkill."

"On the bright side, it looks like we've got all of the same classes together," Ren added, "so we've got more than enough people to help each other out with assignments."

"Good thing too, because Oobleck's going to wreck your sleeping habits with his class."

Everyone turned to meet Stella as she stood with her arms crossed and an amused smirk behind the twelve first-years. "Trust me; you're going to need great friends and a lot of coffee when you do his assignments." She turned to the dusty and battered Yang and Orion "That was a fun fight by the way, you two. Loved all of the property damage, too; you should've seen the look on Goodwitch's face!"

Orion's ear twitched as he cocked his head slightly and asked, "You were here the entire time? Don't you and the rest of SLSC have classes too?"

"Normally yes, but ever since our last mission ,Ozpin gave us 'independent studies'…which is basically nothing but free time. Professor Goodwitch decided to call me in as an extra official or for interference in case things got out of hand."

At this, one of the light posts that Yang had been flung into buckled and dropped with an emphatic crash. ONAX, RWBY, and JNPR looked down at the fallen structure and back to Stella, whose confident face hadn't changed at all until Nemo chuckled "'Out of hand,' eh?"

Stella shifted her eyes quickly on him and scowled. "When I say out of hand, I mean when people are still fighting even after the match is called and someone's probably going to die," she bared down on him, hands firmly on her hips, " Anything else, wiseass?"

A voice called out from the other side of the walkway above the stands. "Take it easy on the kid, Stella. He's only a first year; he'll learn eventually not to tick you off."

"Speaking of great friends, I believe you folks met Jay Starbird of JSPR briefly at Initiation? If you don't remember, then allow me: RWBY, JNPR, and ONAX, meet Jay Starbird. Jay, meet the new kids." The boy approaching them wasn't in school uniform or clothes meant for combat. Rather, he was in a button-up with a blue vest over it and black slacks. Orion could sense that Jay was stronger than he looked despite his wiry frame, and noticed what looked like a mid-sized kyoketsu-shoge, or even simply a knife welded to a flail, coiled on the right side of his belt.

"Hey, everyone! Nice to see you again, Marian." Jay waved to the first years before turning to Stella, "I see someone's forgetting what 'free time' is. Or did you just want to pick on first-years?" he scoffed.

"Since when have I ever done that? And before you say it, our first year does not count." Starbird said nothing, prompting Stella to pull out her scroll and show him the conversation between her and Goodwitch. The first years crowded around her to see for themselves; sure enough, she wasn't lying.

_Goodwitch: Ms. Argenta, be ready to stun them in case things get too heated. I fear Ms. Xiao Long is about to erupt on Mr. Arguros, and it will get worse from there."_

_Argenta: Ah, but the fight was getting so goooood!"_

_Goodwitch: Ms. Argenta, you had better be ready when the moment comes, or you can expect detention!"_

_Argenta: Okay okay, I got it!_

Jay just shrugged, as if to ignore what the leader of SLSC just showed him. "Eh, just figured you were since you look like you want smack him."

Stella huffed yet seemed content with the answer until she realized something. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be over at the VNN for your internship?"

"I just came back from there. It was a short day and the only thing notable to report was Torchwick still being on the loose and some new kid on the crime block. Apparently, the common theory is it's the same person responsible for a few robberies and possibly a murder a couple days ago."

Something seemed to click in Xienna's head as she asked, "What exactly was stolen?"

"Some Dust and maybe a hundred thousand lien from an armored truck. Other than that, nothing else was missing." the older student seemed to catch on to what Xienna was asking, "Think you have any ideas to who it could be?"

"There was a woman named Ashcroft who raided one of my family's company trucks down in Sangre a few days ago. She and some hired guns took a lot of weaponry before the cops showed up after I fought her. I don't think she'd come this far up North, though."

"Well, just message me whatever details you have about this Ashcroft woman to my scroll. Even if it's not much, it'll help a lot if it turns out to be her. Besides," he began to smirk, "who else to keep you all posted on things like that but me?"

"Someone less likely to hit us with that knife-flail for asking a 'bad' question, perhaps?" Stella quipped.

"That was one time and it was a bad day with no coffee! Anyway, I should probably head back to the dorm; I guess Jameson wants to go over some strategies for the next mission. See you guys around!"

"See ya, Jay!" Stella called out as her fellow third year left. "Well guys, I should probably take off too now that your class is just about over. Sol's probably up to something mischievous…again. I swear if he has the door booby-trapped again I'm going to throttle him! See you guys at dinner, probably!" and with that, Stella left as well.

As Orion and company made their way to Oobleck's class, he could hear Ruby and Xienna talking about their respective run-ins with Torchwick and Ashcroft, Weiss scoffing audibly as the latter brought up her family's ties to the Williams Corporation. After the Schnee Dust Company, the Williams Corporation was the largest of the Dust mining companies on Remnant but they only had one drawback: they were a faunus-owned company. While some to believe that they may have been helping fund the White Fang's recent violent exploits, these rumors were investigated as false. In truth, the only trouble he'd ever heard around the name was the treatment of their sons.

"Hey, where did Weiss go?"

The remainder of RWBY looked around as their icy teammate seemed to have taken off under their noses. Ruby then told everyone that she'd go find her and to save her a seat in the dining hall. Marian was honestly glad today was only Thursday; tomorrow was a short day, giving them all free time to explore the city and hangout throughout the weekend, not to mention relax. It would only be their first two days of school, and already people were blowing gaskets? Yeah, a trip to Vale would be good.

Nemo wasn't too thrilled with the idea, though. If anything, they should all focus on getting their work done first before even thinking about going to Vale. Even then, he doubted he'd be too up for it and would rather spend the day at the range. He missed more than he should have back in the Emerald Forest against the Blood Hounds. But what made him want to stay even more was the fact that he wanted to be ready for when he ever ran into Torchwick or this Aschroft character. He always thought Vale was the least crime-ridden kingdom on the continent, but it was clear he was going to need a certain set of skills he hoped wouldn't need to use again to find them and kill them if need be. If he could end the Neró crime family, what's to stop him from doing the same to these two?

* * *

After the most entertaining class behind PT and Duelling, everyone had gone to the dining hall for dinner. Yang and Orion spent much of the time eating with ice packs on their heads, the latter for a headache and light heat stroke and Yang's for migraine. No one had seen Ruby at all since she had gone to find Weiss, and she had yet to show up while Weiss did, much to Yang's obvious irritation. The others could tell that she was going to give the Schnee heiress an earful tomorrow and did not envy her position. When everyone had had their fill and made their way up to the dorms, Yang had stopped Orion to ask him something really quick while the rest of their teams and JNPR went inside their respective rooms. Nemo, Marian, Xienna immediately grabbed their bags and began to unpack and organize the room.

No matter what they did, the room was cramped until Orion finally came in.

"I got an idea…bunk beds, anyone?"

Nemo looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Bunk beds? What are we, 6 year olds?"

Xienna caught on to the idea, "It would give us more room to move around and everything."

"Thank you, Xienna! RWBY had some spare rope we could use, but I figure we can make ours a bit less hazardous to our health."

Marian high-fived her leader for the idea when the question dawned on her, "How did you know they made bunk beds?"

All eyes were on Orion as he rubbed his head both out of sheepishness and a still-present headache as he answered "Well, Yang and I had a bet of our own and she wanted to know if after class tomorrow or just going on Saturday would be better for all of us to leave for Vale, and she kinda left the door wide open. I saw the bunk beds and it gave me the idea to do the same over here." Before Xienna and her grinning face could ask what the bet was, Orion added "Now let's get this project going so we can get some shut-eye; I'm exhausted and we got Oobleck again first thing in the morning."

After almost forty-five minutes of trial and error with the bunk setups, the four of them had set it up so that Orion and Nemo are one side of the room and the girls were on the other. Each bunk bed was on either side of the window, but the girls' beds were closer to the bathroom. The bookshelf had been labelled in four areas to separate the students' book collection. Each had brought a varying selection of books, varying from mystery/crime to sci-fi to biographies. Below the books was space for a box of Cards against Remnant, a couple of whetstones, and a couple of movies. Between all of those was a space for their textbooks. After they felt at least satisfied with the current setup, the four members of ONAX got themselves ready for bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

It couldn't have been more than a few hours into the night when Orion's stomach didn't growl but almost outright roared for food. Knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to sleep otherwise, Orion crawled out of his bed and made way to the dining hall for a late snack. His heightened faunus senses told him that there were people wandering the halls on curfew watch but thankfully most were on the other side of the building. His path to the dining hall was almost all clear minus one near run-in with an unexpected teacher.

When he finally made it, Orion caught the scent of another student in there…another faunus, to be precise. Rounding the corner, a familiar black bow was illuminated by the light of the fridge and freezer and immediately turned his way. Orion and Blake locked eyes, the latter's arms filled with cans of tuna and a filet of salmon clamped in her mouth, for no more than a few seconds before the cat girl kicked door closed behind her and scurried away silently to her team's room. Orion had to restrain a chuckle as he went to the fridge, only to pale in horror when he opened the door: Blake had taken the last salmon filets! In his stupor, he was oblivious to the sound of heels behind him until they stopped and rapidly tapped in annoyance.

"Mr. Arguros…" a familiar voice scolded from a few feet behind him.

"Ah crapberries…"

* * *

After a brief reproach from professor Goodwitch, Orion had gone back to his room still hungry but now he didn't have to worry about the lurking staff on watch since the professor informed them he'd be on his way back to his room. The sound of footsteps shuffling down the hall caught his attention when he neared the staircase by his dorm. Peaking around the corner, he caught a head full of snow white hair disappearing into team RWBY's dorm followed by a panicked squeak of "Weiss! I-I was studying, and then I fell asleep! I'm sorry..."

'Uh oh…' he thought from his spot on the stairs, bracing for an explosive shouting match.

"How do you take your coffee?"

'Wait, what?' That was a complete 180 from what he was expecting. Weiss was absolutely fuming earlier at Ruby, and now she wants to play nice? What brought this on?

"I... I don't..." Ruby must've been caught off guard by the suddenly nice Weiss as well for her to stammer like that

"Answer the question!" the heiress quietly snapped.

The little leader answered hurriedly "Uhh, cream and five sugars!"

He could hear Wiess sigh, "Don't move." A second later, a blur of white dashed across the hall and zoomed back to the room, thankfully without noticing the burly figure of Orion. 'Well, now I know where to get some quick caffeine in the morning' he mused.

"Here."

"Um... Thanks, Weiss."

"Ruby, I think you have what it takes to be a good leader. Just know that I am going to be the best teammate you'll ever have!"

'I bet Yang will have something to say to that' Orion silently snorted as he made his way to ONAX's dorm…his team's dorm. It wouldn't be the first go-round as a team leader, but something about this group felt…different. Even if there was something there that they all had in common, he could tell that these similarities would be pretty night-and-day in comparison .Whether that would be a good or bad kind of different though remained to be seen. It's only been the first day, but with his luck, there's always something bound to happen.

"Good luck studying! That's wrong, by the way."

Orion froze when he heard footsteps as he was halfway to his dorm, just around the corner from JNPR and RWBY but thankfully whoever they belonged to was still in the dorm a few feet behind him as Ruby and Weiss continued to talk. "Hey, Ruby?"

"Uh-huh?"

"I always wanted bunk beds as a kid."

Orion silently walked back to the dorm. 'Maybe Weiss isn't as bad as her earlier behavior and last name suggests, after all' he ruminated as he walked back in to his room. But something felt off, like someone or something was missing. As his eyes scanned the room, he finally realized what it was and opened the blinds quietly, letting the night sky illuminate the room. Laying back down on his bed Orion stared out at the stars until he fixated on a familiar grouping and let sleep take him with a smile.

Today was going to be a good day.

* * *

**Author's Note: Alright, so the last month has not been kind to me. On top of school and work, my appendix got infected and I dodged a bullet by five minutes after it was removed. Since then, it's been a pain in the rear (and stomach) to find my writing focus. Despite all of that, I had a blast writing this chapter and I hope you do too when you read it. I apologize for any pun-induced fits of rage...or do I? See if you can spot the references (and yes, that Orion and Blake kitchen scene was inspired by Lilo and Stitch) !**

**And now, Thank-you notes!**

**+Lucenthia: Thank you! I know we talked much about this via PM but still I thank you for pointing out flaws that could've been avoided and will be worked on. That's. For those of you reading this, check out Lucenthia's story, _Ashes to Ashes_!**

**Don't forget to fave, follow, and leave a review, folks! This is SpanishBulldog63 signing out and saying Happy Reading!**


	11. Chapter 7: Unload

Chapter 7: Unload

Thursday and Friday came and went, and now everyone with the exception of Nemo was off to Vale for the day. He decided to stay behind, annoyance brewing as his teammates ventured into Vale. Homework being finished or not, they should've spent the weekend training instead of sightseeing; Xienna had said it herself that she confronted a woman on par with Torchwick. The fact that he roamed the streets bugged him, but the thought of someone on par like Ashcroft staking their claim nearby burned his hide. Thankfully he ran into Jay and asked him where the shooting range was so he could blow off that steam.

It wasn't deserted but there were more than enough empty stalls for him to unload a few drums without bother. The range was wide with about 20 or 25 enclosed stalls, and it seemed like they could be adjusted to the shooter's preference; one individual had finished a round of stationary targets with an assault rifle before he set a new round, now with rapidly moving targets. He looked at his own panel and set the number of targets to max capacity and cranked the speed up to 9 out of 10. Forty targets popped up and bounced from place to place as Nemo took a deep breath and exhaled.

"16 seconds" he muttered after hitting the timer and unloading down range with a squeeze of the trigger. The targets fell one by one in the hail of Dust shells, the closest ones shattering on impact while the further ones required taps for single-shots and thus better accuracy. The one thing Nautilus was not all that good with was accuracy, and it showed with Nemo's growing frustration. The last ten targets closed in, but at the midway point each got a bullseye and the boy stopped the timer…28.24 seconds.

"Twenty-eight minus nine…nineteen," Nemo began to seethe, "Nineteen…not good enough!"

Starting the program all over again, Nemo blasted his way through the course again, but this time his time had fallen to 30.06. Time and again he continued and his times made no progress at all. At this point, he could feel himself steaming; he could put down mobsters and thugs with no problem, even at a farther distance, with little effort, but now he struggled with measly metal targets? If someone as wild and brutish as Orion could pick agile targets like Blood Hounds off with such ease, he could do the same if not better because, in his mind, he _had_ done better. His leader may have his semblance and power, but he didn't have the same experience Nemo had, not by a long shot.

"Having an off day, I see?"

He turned to see Professor Ozpin standing behind him, his cane in one hand and steaming cup of coffee in the other. "I guess you can say that, yeah. "

"Hmm" Ozpin hummed, "Something troubling you?

Nemo thought about it before finally answering, "Well, I'm not exactly thrilled that my teammates decided to take this weekend off to go to Vale instead of training or doing something productive."

"Ah, I see. But that is where you're also wrong, Mr. Outisseus. Your teammates and others may be heading into Vale, yes, but perhaps it would be to not just explore the city, but get to know each other even better. Remember, you will be together for the next four years, and forming these bonds is as important as any exercise on these ranges."

Nemo shook his head in discomfort, bad memories coming to light. "But that's the thing! I don't _want_ to let people in too close because the last time I did, the closest people I had to family got caught in the crossfire of a drive-by hit from the Neró crime syndicate. I couldn't live with the fact that these monsters plagued the coast of both Vacuo and Atlas yet no one would lift a finger, so I took matters into my own hands and… well, we both know the rest of _that_ story."

"Indeed we do, which is why we made our little agreement when I sent Ms. Goodwitch to get you from the Tocsin police department. I just hope you keep it in mind, young man, for both of our sakes." Ozpin sighed as he turned to walk away before stopping, glancing in the direction of the gardens, "And I'd reconsider your stance about your team. Broken bonds mended together can sometimes be the strongest. While I suppose some old habits die hard, even help comes to those who can stand alone."

Nemo chuckled, recalling their conversations both via video and in Ozpin's office. "Man, you are just... cryptic. Like all the time, do you realize that?"

The headmaster cracked a faint smile before walking towards the library. 'He may be right', Nemo thought as he readied another round of targets and loaded another clip, but that didn't mean he was ready to give in to Ozpin's words of advice, and he damn sure wasn't ready to trust Orion's leadership. But the more he thought about Ozpin's words, the more it made him wonder about his team. 'Broken bonds…what does he mean by that?'

"16 seconds…"

"Knock it off! "

"Huh?" Nemo turned towards the direction of the sound, and spotted Russell of Team CRDL bullying another student, a bunny-faunus given the large ears being yanked as she was kicked to the ground. Stopping his target practice and strapping Nautilus across his back, Nemo made his way over to the confrontation. Kicking someone while they were down was the trademark of a coward, and one thing he could never tolerate. Coming around from behind with silent footsteps, Nemo was ready to pounce when the girl kicked out and hit Russell in the gut. With a grunt of fury, Russell cocked a fist back only for it to be halted in its place.

"Go ahead and go, ma'am," Nemo said before turning to the caught bully, "If you wanted a fight, Mohawk, all you had to do was ask!"

Russell glared at Nemo. "It's rude to interrupt people when they're in the middle of doing something. Especially when they don't concern you," he said.

The taller boy scoffed, "Oh, and what would that _something_ be?"

"Chasing off the animals," Russell said with a sadistic smirk.

"Chasing off the animals," he echoed bitterly. It was one thing to beat somebody away because they bugged you while you were, say, sleeping. But doing it just because they're a different race from you? Nemo had seen it crossed over too many times with other mob "business" back in Northern Vacuo, especially Tocsin. He felt the familiar cold winds blow around him angrily as he clenched his fists and continued, "You know, for someone who's training to be a protector of the people, you're a real coward."

The arrogant teen's grin faded into a scowl as he drew his daggers and growled, "What did you just call me?!"

"You heard me, punk. Better question is, did you hear yourself? You're talking about a race of people…yeah you heard me right," he said as Russell's response to the word 'people' was akin to a slap, "who had been historically screwed over time and again bar those lucky enough to not get caught up in Menagerie. That girl you were just bullying around had proven herself to be skillful enough to come to Beacon, just. Like. You."

Now Nemo was face to face with Russell, or rather face to hair as his glaring eyes were level with Russell's Mohawk. "Now I, on the other hand, got here not just because I was a good student in combat school, but because I stood up for those who couldn't fight back…an equalizer of sorts against people like you but much, much worse. People who did what they wanted whenever they wanted to whoever they wanted. So I'm going to make you an offer: either quit while you're ahead with this anti-faunus thing, or you get to deal with me."

"That's not much of an offer," Russell said through grit teeth

"Well it's the only one you're going to get."

"Well then," the Mohawk-haired teen started before burying his daggers in the tree behind him and getting in a fighting stance, "I guess I made my choice. If you want a fight, you've got one!"

Nemo saw the sloppy right hand coming from a mile away, but what he didn't see was the large pair of hedge clippers fly over his shoulder and ensnare Russell's arm into the tree behind him. Nemo looked over his shoulder to see a green haired, older student roughly the same height as Xienna and Marian approach from the bushes not too far away. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that this newcomer was angry, specifically at the trapped member of CRDL.

"You think you can just stab your daggers into school property, bully another student on top of that, and get away with it? Not on my watch, kid!" If it weren't for the forked tongue flicking from his mouth, Nemo would have sworn he was human. 'That would explain the slight hiss with his S's' he thought.

Russell tried to free himself from the tree and the hedge clippers, but to no avail. The older student, however, merely walked right up to him and yanked him and his weapon right out of the tree with little effort. The scrawny member of CRDL crashed into a stone bench as his daggers clanged to the ground next him.

"Now, let's take you to Ms. Goodwitch about you defacing Beacon property," he growled, hoisting Russell to his feet. Nemo was curious who this stranger was, thinking back to Ozpin's words once more.

"Before you take him to get his just desserts, mind if I ask you your name?"

The snake faunus turned around from his arm lock and simply answered "Vert Williams, Beacon's groundskeeper. And before you ask, yes I'm a fourth-year but no, I'm not a student. I'd stay and maybe chat, but this little vandal has a date with Ms. Goodwitch's office."

Russell looked over his shoulder to scoff at Vert, "Little? I'm taller than you are, you scaly fre-ack!" but a hard punch to the gut from Nemo made him shut up with a coughing fit. Judging by the faint grin on Vert's face, it was appreciated.

"Ah, that reminds me! Be sure to let the Professor know that the girl he was bullying was also a rabbit faunus. His reason being was for the purpose of, and I quote, 'chasing off the animals'."

Vert looked up and stared darts into Russell's skull. "Oh, he's one of those types? Oh, Glynda's going to love this!" He then turned to Nemo and asked, "What's your name so I know who to state helped out in the report, and also in case Goodwitch or Ozpin want to talk to you?"

"Nemo…Nemo Outisseus,"he said, the sudden realization hitting him that for once he wasn't trying to be the "Nobody" of underground lore. Had just a week at Beacon made that much of a change?

As Vert and Russell disappeared around the corner, Nemo recalled the faunus-owned Williams Corporation that Xienna had mentioned the other day after PT and Dueling class. The surname may be a common one, but how many were of faunus heritage? From just that bit of interaction alone he assumed Vert was more of an introvert who, judging by his anger at Russell and his daggers, valued his work as the groundskeeper. But there was something that seemed off, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Whatever it was, he shrugged it off; he was getting tired really fast of the staff here being so cryptic.

"Guess I'll just have to keep my ear to the ground," he mumbled as walked back to the shooting range. On his way back after few more hours and several spent drums, he spotted a familiar pair of ears rocking back and forth against a tree not too far off. It was the faunus girl that Russell was kicking around, crying into her arms with her knees brought up to prop them.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked, the girl not seeming to notice until he began to reach out.

She flinched in panic and squeaked, failing to recognize her savior from before, "Gah! Go away! Go Away!"

"What? I'm not going to hurt you! I just want so see-"

A handful of dirt and rocks to the face answered him, "What, if my ears are real or if I'm like a 'normal girl' in bed? You humans are all the same! Why can't you just leave us alone!" and with that, she sprinted back to the dorm building, eyes still pouring tears of pent up rage and sorrow.

Nemo took a deep breath and made his way to the locker room to put away Nautilus. He should've expected her to react like that, especially with how that Russell punk was just treating her just moments before. But it wasn't this incident that bugged him; it was the run in with that monkey faunus, that overblown error in Nemo's judgement that was replaying in his mind over and over. The kid did a bad thing for all the right reasons but Nemo, stupid, air-headed Nemo, decided to not just chase him down but tackle him through his front door…right in front of his starving family. The former vigilante felt himself urge to puke at his own actions; of all the things he'd done, that was by far the most disgusting-

"That was a good thing you tried to do back there, Wind-Breaker. Not very often you see humans try and help faunus these days."

Nemo sighed at the horrible name and, sure enough, his teammates, RWBY, and JNPR were approaching from the direction of the airship docks. But even in the setting sun, he could tell that something was amiss…particularly, how everyone seemed like they'd walked out of the biggest mosh pit in history, and smelled like they'd walked out of a dive bar's basement.

"What happened to you guys?"

Orion and the rest of the group all looked pointedly at Yang, who merely grinned sheepishly while giving them two thumbs up.

Marian was the first one to say anything, and if her head being shook in her hand was an indicator, it was going to be a wild story.

"Well…"

* * *

_Earlier_

Marian watched as Ruby continued to throw question after question at Orion about Arktouros and how it worked. She'd never seen someone so enthused about weapons, not even the biggest weapon buffs back in her village. Apparently Orion had, but it seemed to hit a personal spot, judging by the look in his eyes that the younger girl clearly didn't notice. She could've sworn she saw the same reaction back when they all first met, but it was too quick to tell. It's not like Marian hadn't seen anything that panged her own heartstrings in her first few days at Beacon; so many couples in the older students reminded her of what she once had that she'd often take off to a secluded spot and just let it out when the rest of her team was gone or sleeping.

Natalie had been the one treasure in her life, a girl whose kindness and selflessness were as unfathomable as her love for baking goods. Four years of happiness, laughs, tears, and promises, and it was all gone in a day because someone on the east wall didn't know how to do their job. Doing her best not to think about it right now, Marian had turned to the others chatting in the seats next to her. Xienna and Nora were chatting excitedly about checking out the city, or scoping out the local dining places to be precise.

"Think Vale's got any fight clubs?" Yang was heard asking. Heard not too far behind her was a surprising facepalm coming from Blake.

"Not if you talk about them!"

"Jeez, we're not even in the city yet and you're already about to break the first two rules? Way to go!" Orion chuckled, clapping his hands in mock applause as Yang shrugged with a big grin.

"Huh, I didn't peg you as a reader, Orion," Marian said with curiosity.

"Yeah, believe it or not I enjoy books. As far as Fight Club though, I'm honestly torn between the book and the movie."

"The only way you could convince me that the book was better than the movie was if it hit on the romance more between the Narrator and Marla more, because I really loved how the plot ended." Blake added "Otherwise it's a close call in favor of the movie, and I _never_ say that about film adaptations!"

"No way; as far as the ending goes, the book was so much better than the movie! The romantic angle playing out at the end added more for drama's sake, sure, but what else did it really contribute to the Narrator's development and the overall message of Fight Club? Don't get me wrong, it was a different facet added to the Narrator that I admittedly liked, but that was it. All in all, what matters is that both were entertaining and offer a lot to look at."

Marian looked at Blake, "Hmm, a romantic I see? So I suppose you enjoyed 50 Shades of-"

"Ugh, don't even finish that name. I couldn't get past the first page without getting a headache," she growled, her ears fighting to twitch under her bow. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her fellow faunus glance at it for a moment, a faint hint of scrutiny in his eyes. "How about you, Marian?"

"Oh, I could read almost anything! The down time I had back home was either spent reading or listening to stories being read to me by the fi-" she caught herself, immediately regretting that that last bit escaped her lips as Xienna and Yang turned their attention to her.

"Speaking of romantics, it sounds like someone's in love!" Yang teased with a wiggle of her eyebrows, "I'd like to hear more about these fire-side stories."

Marian pleaded "Please ignore that last bit. I'd rather not think about this on my first trip to the city."

"If you're having boy troubles, I'm sure we can help you, Marian," Xienna jumped in.

The guardian was growing red in the face, stammering "N-No it's ok! I mean, it's not that, it's-"she felt a lump grow in her throat, every word she could think to say caught in it painfully. As she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to regain her composure, she hoped something would interrupt this mess when Orion finally stepped in.

"Hey, if she doesn't want to talk about it, then she doesn't want to talk about it, so leave it alone you two," he said sternly. "If and when she feels comfortable telling us, then I'm sure she'll let you know."

"Aw, no gossip? How un_bear_able!"

"Oum dammit Yang!"

The pilot announced their landing over the intercom, helping break the situation much to Marian's relief. As the doors opened and let its passengers out, almost everyone among the three teams split up into groups after agreeing to phone in every so often to check in with teammates and meet at key spots. Ruby rushed to find the weapons and Dust stores with Weiss and Jaune following her trail of rose petals, Yang and Orion chatted absent-mindedly down the street and until the two of them ogled a TV airing a teaser for Hansen-Pentecost Motorcycle Company's newest addition in their popular line of Jaeger choppers, Blake practically vanished, and Xienna and Nora made a frenzied beeline straight for the nearest restaurant with a stoic Ren in tow. Marian, however, was drawn to the immediate sight of a Noble Barnes a couple of blocks down.

"Yay," she cheered under her breath, a small smile on her face as she almost broke into a sprint. The smell of book paper filled her nostrils more and more with each step towards the store. Upon entering, her eyes widened like a kid's would in a candy store; she'd heard of how big this book chain's stores were, but nothing compared to seeing it in person. Row after row after row was filled with hardcovers, paperbacks, comics, and magazines. Her eyes came to a stop on the fiction section, and she made her way over to see if they had anything interesting. But she couldn't help but feel like someone was watching-

"Hello!"

"Gah! Holy crap Pyrrha, I didn't even see you come in here!" Marian gasped before composing herself, the Spartan appearing from out of the science-fiction section, "Just looking around, I take it?"

"Yes," the taller girl replied, "I figured I'd take a look at that Fight Club book Orion and the others were talking about. If it's not available, then maybe I'll try and find where they keep the Freelancer Saga books."

"Oh, I heard that's a good series right there from many of my friends back home. Orion's suggestion, I take it?"

"No actually; our friend Lance suggested it after I borrowed one of the books while we were all still at Sanctum. I really like Agent Carolina…such a tragic family of hers, though," Pyrrha grimaced before looking back at the guardian, "Well, I hope I didn't take up too much of your time book hunting!

"And I hope I didn't take up too much of yours. See you later, Pyrrha!" Marian said as the two waved goodbye to look around. She kept her eyes focused on the Fiction aisle, passing the romance and adult section where she was positive a familiar black bow was buried in what looked like _Ninjas of Love: Bushido_.

"Someone's quite the naughty girl," she snickered under her breath as she turned into her destination. She saw many intriguing titles, from _It_, to _Clan of the Cave Bear_. If she had more lien in her pocket, she'd likely buy a whole row of books for her free days. As she continued to look around, one book in the M listings caught her eye. On the cover was a large wood-and-steel ship rolling through ferocious tides, and bursting from the center of the ship, sending chunks of wood and metal everywhere, was a giant, albino sperm whale with glowing red eyes. Next to the crow's nest were two words on either side of it…Moby Dick. The searing red eyes and the explosion of debris and people, however, brought back a memory that would be forever engraved in her brain. Taking it all in with a flash of pain, the girl uncontrollably recalled that day…the day everything for her changed.

_Marian and Natalie had been sitting in the latter's bakery, getting everything set up for the morning rush before it opened. Marian had been on her break from the northern gates, well deserved after picking off a pack of Beowolves that strayed too close to the crop fields. "Mari…do you think we'll ever be able to leave this place?"_

"_Of course I do Nat, just not soon, or at least until the rest of the legion can train someone well enough to replace me. Why?"_

"_Because…well, I think now would be the best time to move out of Caeder Creek like we've always talked about. Attacks are becoming more frequent, people are dying just as often, and every day I pray the rest of the Boros Legion doesn't come knocking on our door with your shield and blade in hand. I couldn't handle it if anything happened to you like what happened to Aureum-" _

"_Nat ," Marian urged reassuringly with hands clamped over the baker's own, "what happened to Mr. Julius back in March was the result of his own hallucinations and misdoings. The knife found among the twenty-three Nevermore feathers, Marcus Furva's, is believed to be planted by someone else town. If anything, it was probably one of the other town elders tired of his maniacal rants. But the people of Caeder Creek need me to help protect them, and once there's a replacement, you and I can finally do all of the travelling we've dreamed of," she finished with a kiss to her golden-haired lover's hands, earning a deep red blush from the baker._

"_I know, Mari, but I need you too! You've already devoted so much to your comrades and to the people here that one day it's going to kill you and I…I don't know what I would do with myself without you. You don't owe them anymore…" she whimpered, then an idea flashed across her teary face, "We can move to Vale! It's right by the ocean, and we can take trips to Atlas or Mistral. Besides, we've always talked about living the big city life for the last couple of years."_

_Marian smiled before planting a kiss on her lover's lips that seemed to last forever, one that tasted of sugar, smelled of fresh berries, and was still plenty warm from pulling her famous pasties from the oven. Natalie's small and tender hand cupped her cheek as the two refused to let go of one another, the baker and her guardian sinking further and further into each other's embrace. She'd never admit it, but that was the best idea that either of them had. The more she thought about it, the more she felt like she was in the clouds…the two of them in Vale, forever entangled with one another for as long as they lived. That is where they could be…no, should be, but honorable Marian had sworn to fight for the men and women beside her in the Legion, to protect the families of Caeder Creek. But even she knew there would be no telling when there'd be a replacement to take her place so that she and Natalie-_

CRASH

_The two of them broke their kiss abruptly as Marian's finger raised to hush Natalie as the alarms were raised. Screams and gunfire broke out from the east, the wall from the same direction smoking as if something exploded. Her comm piece buzzed in her ear, but nothing came but static. Rushing to grab her weapon, Marian ran back to Natalie when she heard a series of loud, guttural huffs amid crashes due east and, just as she was within arms-reach of her, the ear-piece screeched._

"_IT CAN CAMOUFLAGE!"_

_Time seemed to move at a snail's pace as the wall exploded, a mix of wood and metal strewn through the air like dangerous confetti. Marian was barely in the process of shifting the Rapid Fire into its blade and shield form to cover Natalie when her eyes focused on the scaly horror barging through. The beast, had it stopped and stood still, would've easily looked over the bakery with its pale, horned skull. Bony quills lined its neck and forearms while thick bumps of bone adorned its spine from the back of the head to the tip of its long tail. But what really stood out were its eyes…those bright red orbs of malice, glowing with nothing but rage and hunger. For the first time in a long time, Marian felt something she'd never thought she'd feel again...fear._

_That's when she tore her eyes back to Natalie…and screamed._

"Marian! Marian,are you ok?" The mesmerized Marian was snapped out of her painful trance, unaware that where she was once standing she was now kneeling. She trembled, her whole body was shaking and her throat hurt as if she had just screamed her lungs out. Her face felt wet, her hands, sleeves, and pant thighs were coated in tear stains, and she could feel the eyes of the people who were gathered around her watching, . But what surprised her more was who it was that was standing over her with concern painted all across her face.

"Marian?" Blake asked once more, crouching beside her with a placating hand on Marian's shoulder. After once again failing to get response from the recovering Marian, Blake helped her up to a secluded table outside of the store and away from prying eyes. Albeit with some shakiness, Marian managed to sit down but still she struggled to clear her head. What was it that rattled her, that brought that _thing_ back to mind? Was it the book, its cover art, or-

"Are you alright?" Blake asked again, flagging a server down for water. Marian looked at her, surprised that the girl who for the most part had mostly kept to herself was coming to her aid. When their waters arrived shortly after, she took a quick swig that eased the pain in her throat and another to ease her nerves a bit. She saw the girl sitting in front of her stare intently at her, eyes watching for any further signs of breakdown. She couldn't blame her; if she was right about what just happened, she did just that in the middle of a Noble Barnes.

"Thank you, Blake. I really appreciate you getting me out of there when you did."

Blake nodded, before continuing on to the subject, "What happened?"

Marian felt her nerves catch back up to her as she stammered "I… I honestly don't-wait," she stopped, looking at the setting sun, "How long were we in there?"

"I'd say about 3 or 4 hours. Why?"

"3 or 4 hours?!" she gawked.

"Are you ok?" a familiar voice asked as a hand placed itself gently on her shoulder. Marian looked up to see Pyrrha, newly bought books in a bag in her other hand and concern etched upon her face, "I was paying at the register when I heard the scream. I didn't know who it was until Blake had messaged me on her scroll. The crowd inside didn't help either."

"Well, where do I start?" she began, wringing her hands while doing her best to not look away, "I come from a village that's between Vale and the Badlands. There were four others, but they all got overrun, and their survivors came to us. I was part of the village guard, and for the longest time I never thought I'd find an outlet…"

Blake interrupted her, "The boy Yang and Xienna were teasing you about back on the airship?" when she realized she'd spoken out of turn she put a hand to her mouth and quickly apologized.

"Actually, he was a she…" Marian said with a smile, her eyes watering as she reminisced, "Natalie was the best baker in the village; everything came out golden and perfect to the taste buds. She just had that golden touch, you know?"

"Oh," Blake said with a slack jaw, quickly reminded of where she left off in the newest Ninjas of Love, Pyrrha took her seat, hands resting under her chin as she asked, "How did you two meet?"

Marian flashed another smile, "It was actually kind of ironic. You see, she saved me. I was pinned under a Beowolf when she stormed out of her bakery and beat it senseless with her paddle and I finished it off. I've never seen a civilian scold a Legionnaire like she did with me. We bunkered in the bakery, and hit it off from there, four years of golden bliss," she paused, thinking back to the store, "I don't want to talk about what set me off just yet though. That's…still tender."

"Have you told Orion and the others any of this?" Pyrrha inquired curiously.

Marian shook her head, "No, all I've done instead is go find a quiet place to be alone. I'd rather not burden them with my past, especially-."

Both Pyrrha and Blake held up a hand to silence her, the Mistrali speaking first with a slight edge to her tone, "You may not know it yet, and I don't know about Xienna and Nemo, but if anyone would understand you, it would be your leader. It's not my place to divulge his secrets, but Orion has been through a lot in the past, and it may be a while before he warms up to telling it to you all. I've known him since we were toddlers, and believe me, he's got his own share of trauma so if anyone can empathize, it's him."

"Sometimes secrets are good to have, but eventually your team will have to know, maybe soon, maybe later. The choice is yours, but you still need to get it off of your shoulders, because I'm sure it hasn't gone unnoticed," Blake said, although it seemed like she was also talking to herself. As she was about to continue, Pyrrha's scroll rang until she answered it and her jaw dropped.

"What do you mean…you're joking? Alright, sit tight Orion, we're on our way," Pyrrha said with urgency in her voice.

Both Marian and Blake looked up, the latter asking "What's wrong?"

Pyrrha pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, "Orion and Yang ran into some trouble downtown at a dive bar called Lou's Tavern. Orion is trying to be reasonable but Yang apparently won't back down so he's calling us for a helping hand. I'm calling Ren and the others…hopefully they're not too full eating."

"Wait, there's seriously a place called Lou's Tavern in downtown Vale?" Pyrrha nodded, prompting Blake to reach out and place her hand consolingly on Marian's, "Let's continue this back on campus with the others. It would do you some good to clear the air."

"Alright, I'll try to. Thank you, you two. You have no idea how much it means to talk to someone and get this at least somewhat off my chest." Then she chuckled "It might do me some good to get into a good old-fashioned barroom brawl, too."

"That's what friends are for, Marian. But you have to tell your team, just how you want to tell them is up to you." Pyrrha said with a smile before adding "Now let's go see what kind of trouble they got themselves into."

* * *

"So you're telling me that you and Yang actually stumbled upon an actual Fight Club, she called it out, and every single one of the members was out for blood?" Nemo asked incredulously, before turning to Marian and the others, "and the rest of you decided to go and jump in for the hell of it?"

Nora smiled with that ever-present energy of hers and was jumping in joy as she said "I got to break a couple of guys' legs!"

Ren put his face in his hand and muffled "Nora, you yanked his leg out of his hip and swung him into the other one's kneecap."

Xienna shuddered, "They screamed so loud."

Orion raised an eyebrow at the little speedster, "Coming from the one who broke her first fight's ribs so he _couldn't_ scream."

"In the name of St. Shaddock, what did I miss?" Nemo chuckled as he looked at Ruby and Weiss, the only ones who appeared to have kept themselves out of the melee. The latter appeared to have a small karaoke machine in hand.

"A lot of fun, obviously. We found a few cool places to hang out and eat, some places that seemed pretty good to avoid, but overall I'd say it was a good time," Orion said with a hearty laugh. "Weiss is going to go talk to Goodwitch about that karaoke machine so we have something to do tonight. It _is_ the weekend, after all."

"I'm game. But you should all probably clean up before we do that; you _did_ just wipe the floor with a few dozen people that Yang antagonized."

The blonde in question feigned insult as she pouted, "I only wanted to know what the rules of Fight Club were!"

In unison, Orion and everyone else involved in the brawl at the tavern shouted "You do not talk about Fight Club!"

* * *

Weiss had just finished her second song of the night, "Teardrop" by Massive Attack, and so far it was without question that she was the best singer in the room. Then again, it wasn't unknown to some of them that she was known around Remnant for performing at live concerts, most recently a song that she had written herself called "Mirror Mirror." Everyone at this point had gone at least once, even Jaune, although his was probably the most painful song bar none.

"Hey Marian, you or Blake haven't gone up at all tonight. Why don't you give it a shot?" Xienna insisted.

"Oh no, I couldn't-"she insisted before Orion jumped in.

"Ah come on, you know you want to!"

"Ok fine, but I can't promise it'll be any good," she grinned as she approached the machine. She decided to do something different, so she turned the lyrics off and set the music for shuffle until she heard a harmonic tune playing, a harp strum softly but the tune was so solemn, and it echoed of hurt, of longing. Before she knew it, or even realized it, the words spewed from her mouth effortlessly.

_You and I were in a dream_  
_You'd follow close wherever i'd lead_  
_My steps you'd echo one and all_  
_You'd catch me safe if ever i'd fall_  
_Your hand in mine we walked along_  
_No hill too high, no road was too long_  
_To stay with you, my only dream_  
_To share your life, whatever it mean_

_"I knew you'd have to go away_  
_My love for you could not help you stay_  
_You drifted off, day by day_  
_I cherished every breath that remained_  
_In my arms, close to me_  
_Your body broke, your soul was set free_  
_You left this world, my treasured friend_  
_A chapter closed, but love has no end"_

_"Farewell my angel_  
_You're with me always_  
_Just close your eyes now_  
_Next time we meet it's forever"_  
_  
_Jaws everywhere in the room dropped, including Marian's. She had no idea where that came from, but those lyrics…every word echoed in her head as she looked around the room. That's when she closed her eyes and fought a losing battle against her tears; all of that came from her heart and soul, the same ones that were shredded when Natalie…damn it, damn it all. Subconsciously, she may have done it to tell them, but on her own will, this was a bad idea from the word go and now she should bolt for the door, for the rooftop ledge where she could bawl her eyes out in solitude… but there was no escaping it this time.

Weiss was the first to speak, her voice softer than her usual icy tone, "Marian… that was beautiful. I don't think I could've done better."

"Please tell me this machine has an auto-record, because that was amazing!" Orion applauded, although the look on his face mirrored Marian's, "But there's a story to this, and those words didn't come from nowhere. While I would rather it be just ONAX, Pyrrha filled me in on what happened…why didn't you call Xienna or I? You know we'd have come in a heartbeat, that's what teammates and friends are for."

Marian looked around the room, everyone looking at her intently, including Blake and Pyrrha who simply nodded. Outside of the Legion, she'd never really had friends, people to care for her… Natalie was all she ever needed. "Before I was accepted into Beacon, or rather recommended and scouted, I lived in one of the five most deadly villages: Caeder Creek, Clouded Isle on the coast, Sorna Ridge, Pine Tree, and Copper Springs."

Nemo's eyes grew wide, being very familiar with the names and the region they accompanied, "You lived in The Five Deaths?!"

"Yes. I came from Caeder Creek, the most savaged village of the five, and long story short, it's where I met and fell in love with a girl named Natalie Jenson."

A collective "aww" filled the room, although Yang and Xienna looked guilty for their earlier assumptions, until she motioned to them that she wasn't finished, "For four years, we enjoyed each other's company. Even a guardian has their security blanket, and she was it; she may have been only 5'1", but she was a firecracker. On those days where something went wrong, or people just wanted to lash out at anyone in the Boros Legion, she'd pounce on them right back. It was humorous as hell, and things stayed that way for a while. But…"

"You wanted to leave together." Ren finished for her.

"But it wasn't that easy. I couldn't just up and leave my post without being noticed, and for a while I had hoped they'd train a suitable replacement so I could call it quits. As you can imagine, that didn't happen. She and I kept discussing the future, like where we wanted to live, what we wanted to do, everything. One day we finally decided that moving to Vale would be our best option…that's when it happened," she continued, her fists clenched in restrained anger.

"Some idiot on the east wall, where Natalie's bakery was located, decided to try and flirt with some passerby instead of doing his damn job and watching the gate! That's when it, this great white beast, broke through the gate and reached us…" she couldn't fight it anymore, her eyes flooded with tears as she continued, "Natalie was skewered with a pole of splintered wood from the attack, and as I shook the cobwebs loose, an Ursa Major that broke through had pounced on her and…"

Marian didn't have it in her to finish, and finally broke down. The room grew silent until the sounds of footsteps echoed and Marian felt multiple arms hold her up and bring her in in a hug, and if the powerful squeeze from the first pair of arms was an indicator, her leader was the first to embrace her followed by the rest of her team. Followed right behind them were Pyrrha and Blake, and the rest of their respective teams. She was going to have to write to her captain soon and thank him for the recommendation to Ozpin.

Nemo, on the other hand, was rewinding to earlier that day with the Headmaster. 'Broken bonds mended together can sometimes be the strongest.' Is this what he was referring to? He knew people had it rough, but this girl came from the roughest part of Vytal and lost the woman she loved in undoubtedly gruesome fashion. He shuddered to think what it was the other two went through. Maybe the next chance he got, he should talk to Orion about all of them breaking the ice, although next time will include him going to Vale after the story about the tavern. Seems like nothing boring happened when it came to his teammates…and this is just the first week of school!

"If you ever need an ear, you know I'm right here for you so don't be afraid to talk to me if you need it," Orion said, his voice masking a deep-seated memory within. Losing loved ones was never easy, whether it was family or those you fell deep in love with, and Orion could only imagine what it was like for Marian in the aftermath of it all.

Xienna spoke next with a somber smile, "Whenever you want some girl time, just say the word and we'll plan a trip to Vale on our free days… My treat, so don't even think about trying to pay for anything!"

Ruby approached her, giving her the last of her cookies, but she seemed lost at what to say as she opened her mouth. Yang seemed to pick up on what it was instantly, "Our room's always open to you, Marian…all of you."

"Same for us," Jaune said, still reeling a bit from what he'd just heard, JNPR's door is always open for you guys."

Marian looked at everyone in the room, from her own teammates, to RWBY, and JNPR with Nora's ever present, bubbly smile, and for the first time in a long, long time, she could say she was surrounded by friends. She hugged them all again, knowing fully that these next four years would be spent working together. It was even her idea to have Ruby break out her new game, which became a long, two-headed giant session of Remnant: The Game; Ruby and Yang played for Vale, Xienna and Weiss for Atlas, Marian and Nemo for Vacuo, and Pyrrha and Orion who dominated for Mistral. Afterwards, JNPR and RWBY called it a night and left to their dorms, ONAX following suit and heading to bed not too soon after.

A few hours passed, and one member still couldn't sleep. Slipping out of her sheets, Marian tiptoed through the door and made her way to the ledge she'd made her personal spot. It was a new moon out, so the stars shined as bright as they possibly could. She took a deep breath and took in the sight, missing the nights on the roof with her golden angel in her arms just watching for shooting stars. Looking up at the stars, she just took in as much silence as she could until she heard knock on the open hallway behind her and jumped.

"So this is where you've been sneaking off to at night? It's not a bad spot, actually."

"How did you know I was here, Orion? I thought you guys were all out cold?"

"Stealth is not your strong suit, and you seem to keep forgetting, "as he pointed to his nose and ears, "faunus."

Marian chuckled, "Right. Caeder Creek wasn't exactly a faunus-friendly place, at least to some of the villagers and most if not all of the council. The few faunus who lived there didn't exactly get much favor, either."

"Damn shame. Places like that make me glad that others like Pantheon exist," he said, turning his attention to the skies as his teammate was, "Still thinking about Natalie?"

She nodded, "I can't help it. So many things had happened in the past that before, I had nothing but the legion. But after tonight, I'm happy to know that for once I have actual friends. But it's still nice to look up at the sky and have those silent nights alone."

Orion shook his head, "But you're not alone, Marian. You never are nor will be."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "What makes you say that?" Marian asked

"Someone… very close to me back home always said that the stars are just those who've moved on, and now they watch on and keep on an eye on those they loved in life. But I know they wouldn't want to look down and see them pick themselves undone in sorrow, regret, or anger. No, they'd want us to use it, to keep moving forward and keep them smiling down upon us. Ultimately, you have to live your life the way you want, but never forget those who helped mold you along the way."

Marian thought back to that day in the hospital, when she completely broke down and her captain had come to console her. Both were right, hell they were practically from the same cloth as far as their demeanor with others was concerned. Even during their 3-on-3 match with one of the other first year teams on Thursday, he looked out for his teammates first and worried about himself second. But then something clicked in her head about what Orion said as she kept her eyes on the stars.

"Hey, Orion? Can I ask you something"

He shrugged, "Sure, shoot."

"Who was it that told you that?"

Silence filled the air once more for almost a minute. "Orion?"

She turned around and saw that he had disappeared into darkness of the hallway without a sound.

"What's the hold up in there, Hayes?"

It was about 2 am, and the ShotCo they had broken into had its security systems disabled thanks to a shocking moment with Blitz, who had her fill of shocking moments earlier in the week. Roman certainly never knew how to hide his wallet, and now the man was short a couple thousand lien, and may or may not have had his clothes thrown in the toilet. The same day, she and her new band of associates had a run in with the opposition at the airport; apparently both had the same shipment of Dust in mind. Such a fun firefight, but the people she works with don't seem to understand the basic concepts of combat except for Hayes and small handful of others. Where did her benefactors even find these guys? She still managed to snag most of the load, but the point was that she needed all of it. It was not a good night for the crew, and it wouldn't be tonight if they didn't hurry it up.

"We've, uh…got a slight delay," Hayes said through the comm.

Blitz took a deep breath before replying, "What _kind_ of delay? This is a simple in-and-out job, Hayes; you've done this hundreds of times before. "

"I know, but I found a couple things in the office-"

"Did you get the records and manifest?"

"Hell yeah I got the manifest! And then some!" He exclaimed gleefully.

As if on cue, the back door slammed open and Hayes burst forth with a mountain many things that didn't look anything like weapons or ammo.

"What. Is. That?" Blitz asked, getting no answer from the now sweating Hayes before snapping "WHAT IS THAT?!"

"It's more stuff to add to my Marlin Brando collection. Who would've known the owner was a fan too…why are you looking at me like- ACK!" He didn't get the chance to finish as Blitz grabbed him by the throat and slammed into the brick wall of the Shinki's Pizza next door.

"Gah! My new collection additions!" Hayes wheezed. The next thing he knew, she started slapping him back and forth out of anger, spite, and because she wanted to get some sleep as soon as possible.

"WHAT!"

SLAP

"THE HELL!"

SLAP

"WERE YOU!"

SLAP!

"THINKING?!"

SLAP

"Hey, I am in love with Marlin Brando, and I am fine with my love of Marlin Brando…and snack cakes."

The enigmatic woman sighed angrily, "You had one job dammit! Get the shipping records and manifest, and get out. Not stealing some old actor's memorabilia for your creepy fanboy room! I'm still waiting on the others so we can leave before anyone sees us."

"They're almost done, one of those club thugs wanted to make some changes to his sword though, so that's probably what's doing it. I think it was Joenes, or Jones…however the hell you pronounce it."

Blitz reached for Nocturne and snarled, "I'm about to make some changes to his head, or gut…or both. Actually, I might go with both… yeah, both sounds good."

If Hayes wasn't used to this by now, he'd have visibly shuddered. "Alright, you do that, I'll load up my stuff in the truck and come help after," he said, rubbing his face as both cheeks were a deep purple.

Blitz dragged her hand down her face in irritation and growled, "Hayes, if your life had a face, I would punch it."

A series of high-beam flashes from the other side got their attention, however; it was the signal that the job was done. 'Good, now I can give that Joenes…Jones…whatever, a piece of my mind when we get back to base.'

Blitz approached them, checking out the load in the back of the truck before asking, "Is that absolutely everything?"

One of the thugs called from the back "Yes ma'am."

"Good. Now, which one of you is the idiot, because I don't feel like trying to say your name, who decided to do a weapon mod in the middle of the job?"

A tall, thin, and scraggly man with a large nose shakily raised his hand as Blitz's pale blue eyes bore holes through his soul.

"You and I are going to have a little 'chat' in my 'office' when we get back. It will not be pleasant, and you will not enjoy it."

He gulped and then squeaked, "Bollocks."

* * *

**Author's Note: Wow, it has been a really long time since the last update, hasn't it? Well, between sickness (no thanks to my brother), school, and the condition and recent passing of my grandfather, life has been kicking me in the teeth. Hard.**

**And this is how RWBY: A Beacon of Hope starts the new year! For those who won't understand Hayes' obsession with Marlin Brando, or being Blitz's slapping bag, it's a running gag on Toho Kingdom that will never go away for a friend of mine. Sorry Hayes...not really lol. References galore, I hope you all enjoy the Easter egg hunt!**

**Until next chapter, please Fave, Follow, and keep the Reviews coming to show your support! This is SpanishBullsog63 signing out and saying Happy Reading!**


	12. UPDATE

Hello everyone!

Don't worry, RWBY: A Beacon of Hope is not dead! It has been, however, tremendously delayed due to school and a technical issue my computer had. Somehow it froze in the middle of Youtube video and when it wouldn't unfreeze, I forced it to restart with the power button. When it comes back on, I notice that many apps and all of my pictures and files are gone...including the in-progress chapter of R:ABoH. But it is currently back in production on Google docs, which I should've done in the first place, and will be up in due time. I hope you all understand and can have patience for me!

Thank you  
-SpanishBulldog63


	13. Chapter 8: All That You Are

Chapter 8: All That You Are

Another week down, another Sunday open for a weekend of free time as everyone sat down and started eating breakfast. For Nora, Xienna, and Ruby, however, just one of their platters was stacked high and wide with enough food to feed all three of them. Across from them, Weiss stared in both awe and disgust as the three of them, Nora in particular, started shoveling food down their gullets.

"…What?" the ginger of JNPR asked with mouth full of chocolate chip pancakes.

Weiss' unscarred eye twitched, "You three realize that a breakfast that size is meant for people who are about to go work in a field for twelve hours, right?"

"Yeah, well, the rest of the day's open after Combat class so…maybe that's what we'll do." Xienna said as she swallowed a mouth full of bacon and eggs, "What do you say, girls?"

In unison, Ruby and Nora exclaimed "Yeah!" and exchanged high fives with the taller girl in the middle.

"Oh for the love of- how do you put up with her, Ren?" she pleaded with her hands up in the air.

The normally stoic boy shrugged with a smile and simply said "I have my ways."

"If every conversation so far is any indicator, they almost all involve pancakes don't they?" Orion joked as he, Pyrrha, Yang, Blake, and Nemo joined them, their breakfasts considerably healthier with the exception of Yang and her greasy breakfast burrito.

"Is that an actual meal, or a heart burn wrapped in a tortilla?" Nemo asked as he looked back and forth between the burrito in question and his oatmeal and eggs.

"I say why not both?" Yang responded, "It'll at least keep me awake for Grimm Studies. "

"Ha!" Nemo laughed after swallowing a mouthful of fruit, "Implying we study Grimm in that class and not hear Professor Port gloat about his youth to begin with. The closest we get to studying Grimm is when he, somehow, has one caged in the classroom and lets a student fight it so we learn weak points."

Pyrrha chimed in, "I'm still surprised the headmaster lets him do that. There's a lot of liability and potential for blowback if something goes wrong."

Orion stopped mid-chew, and looked at her, "Considering all the stories we heard back home, are you really that surprised?"

A very brief pause of thought and a sip of water later, she laughs, "No, not really."

"Speaking of surprises, where's Casanova? He's usually here by now trying to get a serving of Weiss Cream."

"Yang, you lewd buffoon…"

Marian came up with a plate full of fruit, "Hey Blake whatcha reading? Oh…_oh_!"

"LOOK OUT!"

"Huh…oomph!" she grunted as the knight in question bounced off the table and into her gut, sending them both to the floor along with everyone's leapt from her seat to assist her leader, "Jaune! Jaune, are you ok?"

"Uh…"

Orion joined her, "Jaune's brain, status report!"

"Blaraghargh," Jaune groaned, fighting the urge to vomit, "Frozen peas."

The two looked at one another, "That's not good."

A few rows away, the source of conflict made itself known as team CRDL, Cardin in particular, laughed the loudest,"That should teach you to steal a better man's meal, Arc. Trying to take the last bowl of grits was a bad move."

Ruby stood up from her seat before Yang could stop her, "You're in a cafeteria, and you beat someone up over food? What's so hard about waiting in line for- oof!"

"Because someone like me doesn't wait for what he wants."

Before she knew it, Ruby was shoved to the ground by Cardin, something that didn't go unnoticed by Yang as she stomped towards him. Before she could get close enough to strangle him, Orion jumped over the table and put himself between Yang and Cardin. The heat radiating from the former made his hand feel like it was stuck in a bonfire.

"You have a lot guts to be putting your hand on a girl," Orion growled.

"Especially when she's my sister!"

Cardin continued to mock her, "What are you gonna do blondie? Hit me? It's funny that the freak is holding you back, because both of you animals need a leash."

The rest of CRDL started to laugh behind their leader until Russell caught the dagger-like glare from Nemo. At their table, Ren helped Pyrrha bring Jaune to the table while some of the others prepared for the situation to erupt. Jaune, still groggy from being tossed, eyed the conflict with disdain.

Orion's ears flattened as he snarled "If you want to throw insults, you better be ready to throw hands too. Go ahead and bring your friends, maybe I'll switch it up and punch them in the face too!"

Dove, Russell, and Sky stood behind their leader, each shooting Orion and the others a look. When Russell made eye contact with Nemo however, he faltered and slinked a step back. Marian and Xienna followed suit and stood beside Orion, eyeing the other two boys and waiting for one of them to break ranks.

"You'll be lucky to last a minute in a fight with me," Cardin sneered. "If you know any better, you'll stay out of my way."

"That's a lot of big talk coming from a coward."

That rattled him, as the larger boy now got in Orion's face, or would be if Orion wasn't chest level in height compared to him. "What did you call me?"

Orion could hear the sound of heels tapping on the floor, and smiled internally, "I called you a coward. Real question is, what are you gonna do about it, Winchester?"

No sooner did he ask that the larger student grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. "What are you smiling about?"

"So lively in here. You students must be having a lot of fun- Mr. Arguros! Mr. Winchester!" the crowd parted like a sea for an angry Professor Goodwitch, who upon her arrival watched Cardin let go of Orion and step back. "What is the meaning of this?"

Orion was the first to speak, never taking his eyes off the larger student. "Apparently Cardin here thinks that he can assault his fellow students over food instead of waiting for fresh food to be made."

Ms Goodwitch stared a hole through Cardin, "Is that so? Care to elaborate?"

Orion nodded, "Yes, ma'am. He threw Jaune over our table not only for taking the last bowl of grits, but for standing up for faunus students that Cardin and his team were antagonizing."

Yang interrupted, her fists still clenched, "He also put his hands on my sister and shoved her down!"

"Then maybe she shouldn't have gotten involved," Cardin sneered. Orion growled in response

Weiss scoffed, getting Nemo's attention when she muttered something about faunus. "Are you really taking Cardin's side? Especially after he just shoved your leader, your partner, to the ground? Wow, you Schnees really are selfish."

"As if your family is any better. Besides he has made points about them before, and Orion's just going to prove him right. Resorting to violence just like the White Fang."

"Not every faunus is a violent radical like the White Fang's lot, and that still doesn't explain your lack of care towards your teammate. I've seen plenty of good faunus back home, some who have to do what they can to survive. And that's what separates Vacuo from Atlas: if you can pull your weight and survive, you're welcome. Atlas...so much judgment and vitriol it's a wonder things get done."

"And yet your own father is pushing for or siding with conflicting ideas. Don't try and throw shame at my family when yours is just as bad. "

A vein was now pulsing on Nemo's forehead as he growled through clenched teeth, "The only thing they and I share is genetics and a surname. Besides, we don't have slaves, but the SDC sure does now don't they?"

Weiss slammed her hand down and stood up. "Alright, that's enough from you! I will not let you slander my family and get away with it!"

The professor glanced up at the two arguing students,"Hm, perhaps I can arrange something for today. I have already spoken to you all about the qualities of a Huntsman; The devotion to improving your skills as wells as believing in those skills. Nothing is more important to a Huntsman. However, responsibility for that power goes hand in hand with that ideal. In any situation, one must ask themselves if they should use that power," the professor cast a glance in Cardin's direction," and whether it is the place for such as well."

As Goodwitch walked away and Cardin stalked off with a huff, Orion made his way back to the table. He clapped Jaune on the back, "The guy may be strong, and while you may not have to match guys like him or I, it's still good to be able to pack a punch and find another way to win. Didn't you have a gym where you're from?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm a gym member. I try to go four times a week, but I've missed the last… twelve hundred times," he laughed nervously, noting the facepalms seen and heard from Orion and some of the others.

"Do you at least have some sort of calisthenic workout you do in your dorm?" Orion sighed, his face still buried in his hand.

"It's called the Placebo workout: I move around and believe I'm getting in shape but-"

"You're not," Nora finished for him. "You're still a string bean of skin and bone."

"Hey!"

"Thank you, Nora." Orion looked at Jaune, "When there's some free time, I'll send you my routine and I'm sure Pyrrha can keep an eye on you to make sure you do it."

"Uh, sure, I'll give it a try," the blonde knight chuckled nervously. As he stood up he winced, "I think I might've pulled something on the way down."

"Can't pull what you don't have, Jaune," Xienna quipped, getting a chorus of laughter from the others.

* * *

Come Combat Class, Professor Goodwitch wasted little time after the lecture to begin the matches for the day. "Our first match will be Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna of RWBY vs. Orion Arguros and Nemo Outisseus of ONAX. Combatants, come to the stage, please."

As the four made their way down, Orion whispered to Nemo, "Alright, I have a plan. When Goodwitch starts the match, we cut across and take the other's opponent."

Nemo thought about it, and it did make sense. "And if we begin to have troubles with our opponent?"

"Then we switch again."

When the students lined up across from each other, Orion across from Weiss and Nemo across Blake, "Begin!"

The four charged at each other when the Orion called "Switch!" and crossed over his partner at Blake while Nemo slid under and blasted Weiss back with a forceful gust of wind.

Blake paused for split second at the trick, "What?!"

"Surprise mother-wha?" Orion slingshot himself with Arktouros' grapple cable at her, only to seemingly miss. 'Where did she go?"

A kick to the back and a missed slash of Gambol Shroud answered his question. "Surprise-"

Orion didn't let her finish mocking him as he grabbed her by the leg on the follow-up kick and tossed her aside. Mid-flight, she changed the ninjato into a bladed pistol and opened fire. Orion blocked with his gauntlets, rushing through the stream of bullets to engage her once more in close-quarters. To his surprise, the bullets stopped, but only because she flung the gun at him, attached to the ribbon on her arm.

'_That looks like it'd suck if it hit_-' it stopped short in front of him, and opened a cover that revealed the muzzle, '_Me? Oh, crap_…'

BLAM

Nemo and Weiss' battle was more at range, the former's aerokinetic winds dueling with the latter's Dust and glyphs. Weiss' Myrtenaster's chamber clicked until Nemo saw the blade glow red and Weiss slash a wave of fire his way. He countered with a strong gust that blew the attack back at the heiress, who barely dodged it in time. Seizing the moment, he comboed off a pair of gusts with several shots of Nautilus as he closed the distance. As he prepared to lunge at her, he felt himself trapped in place; looking down, he saw a black glyph holding him down. He looked back up just in time to block a charging stab, Weiss' focus on him having dissipated the glyph.

"What makes you think you know anything about me?" Weiss snarled through gritted teeth as she and the taller Nemo clashed once again. Her fencing contrasted greatly with his unpredictable slashing, but she couldn't help but feel that despite their differences they shared more in common then she thought...or refused to believe.

"You come from a family of business, I from politics."

CLANG

"Two not so different pieces of the same shady only difference between our losses is that I've had to see them first hand and while your father actually made an effort to make them seem right-" Nemo kicked her away and re-engaged "Mine didn't lift a finger, no matter how close they were."

Weiss' mind raced to all of those cold nights in her family's mansion, when messengers or crying relatives came to the door. Her older sister Winter and their butler Klein would try to keep her and Whitley calm, even if her brother stubbornly refused it, while father paced back and forth in rage. When the train car of Dust went missing, that was the straw that seemingly broke the camel's back. But if what Nemo said about his own household was true, she was the luckier of the two. She could never imagine having to watch her friends and family die.

"I had to be the breeze that blew against the current. I made a promise to those I lost that I would fight to bring their killers to justice, one way or another. You need to open your eyes, calve from your father's overshadowing glacier, and realize that not everything-" He parried a thrust that served to disguise a glyph behind her that nailed him in the chest with a ball of ice. He continued, coughing as he blocked another stab,"that you were raised on is as black and white as it once seemed."

While Weiss was now in a frenzy to shut Nemo up, Orion and Blake engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse, or in this case, bear-and-cat. The two nimbly dodged each other's shots, but the advantage was soon Orion's as a pair of bolts tipped with ice dust cut off her escape route by exploding into small icy formation. As he closed the distance, Orion growled "How can you sit back and watch as people like Cardin bully around faunus and those who support them?"

"I'm not," Blake growled back, jumping off of the ice chunks ungracefully when Orion slammed his axe down where she was less than a second ago.

"So, what, you're scared of conflict? You're just gonna turn belly-up and run?" He snarled. That set her off, as Blake now rushed at him with both blades drawn. 'So the sheath is also blade? Sneaky...I like it.'

Orion blocked each slash and swing with his gauntlets until he could find an opening. Blake tried for a spinning one-two slash that was blocked and left her flank open. Orion pounced on the moment to swing with a wild left, hitting only smoke as she retreated and left a clone in her wake to take the hit. Just as quickly as he struck, Blake kicked out at his side and repeated the use of her semblance when he retaliated.

'_So she can create shadow clones_?' Kick, swing, miss, repeat, '_That's going to get old real qui_-'

CRACK

Blake caught him right in the side of the face with her heel. '_Correction: it's gotten old_,' he ground his teeth in frustration. He brought his gauntlets back together to form Arktouros' ax form, swinging it quickly to block a hail of bullets to his left.

"SWITCH!" Orion looked over and saw Nemo halfway stuck in a block of ice, fending off Weiss as best as he could despite one arm being caught inside the ice. Orion shot a pair or stone-dust bolts near the dueling pair before freeing Nemo with a bolt of fire-dust and switching back to the ax. He selected kinetic dust in the revolving dust chamber and slammed Arktouros into the nearest formation of ice. The resulting explosion of ice sent Blake scattering out of the way of frozen debris and closer to their partners. Orion dodged the incoming Gambol Shroud in its kusarigama form, grabbed the ribbon, and heaved.

"Let's go for a spin!" he chuckled, swinging the weapon, and Blake, around in the air above him before letting go. Blake went flying towards Weiss, who was now on her heels trying to fend off Nemo's attack, and almost crashed into her were it not for a last minute gravity glyph.

"You good, air-head?" Orion asked as he rejoined his partner. He took notice of the vicious glare the heiress shot him

"I'm freezing and my arm's numb. Not exactly the definition of good," Nemo said through chattering teeth.

Weiss was too busy berating Blake for being sent flying to notice that their opponents had made their move: Nemo circled around them and gathered wind in his hands while Orion stood by the rocky bursts where the bolts hit. "Hey!" he shouted getting their attention, "Are we fighting or what?"

No sooner did he get their eyes on him that Weiss' rapier glowed red and she slashed a trail of fire his way. Orion leapt onto the other stony cluster and egged the two girls on into engaging in a close quarters fight, tapping Arktouros' edge on the side of it in challenge. Nemo nodded in silent agreement, knowing that was the signal to try and finish this. He cast one hand behind him and barreled into the monochrome team towards Orion's position.

_'I will_ not _go down like this_!' Weiss screamed internally, casting a pair of glyphs: one to launch her at Orion, and the other to blindside him with ice projectiles like she had with Nemo earlier. She leaped just before Nemo could ram her and Blake into the stone, Myrtenaster glowing red and ready to meet Orion. The faunus was ready for it, his own weapon charged with Dust, but he still hadn't recognized the threat behind him until a block of ice nailed him in the back of the head. He stumbled to regain his footing as one of his feet slid off the stone, but he didn't have the luxury as Weiss jabbed towards him.

'_Gonna have to improvise_' he thought as he flipped upwards, narrowly avoiding Myrtenaster. The area it stabbed into was now glowing red-hot with the energy from the Burn Dust that Weiss intended to use. Orion quickly shift from axe to crossbow, held down the trigger that engaged Arktouros' Dust cylinder, and rained down a volley of various bolts. Satisfied that the rocky post was now a powder keg ready to blow, Orion brought Arktouros back to its axe form and plummeted down to meet Weiss. He slammed the kinetic Dust-charged axe down where Myrtenaster was stuck and-

KLINK-KOOM

"Son of a bitch!"

"Son of a bitch!"

"SON OF A BITCH!"

"Yang, that's a lien in the swear jar!"

"Holy hell!" Xienna cried out. "Can anyone see anything down there? Or the big screens?"

"Nothing yet. The smoke's too thick," Ren replied, surprisingly still calm.

Marian looked at him, "How are you so calm after that explosion?"

"Have you met Nora?"

"Point taken," Marian smirked. The rest of the crowd was murmuring now that the smoke started to thin out. When it finally cleared where the screens were-

"And it's a tie!" Professor Goodwitch called out. The combatants down below either lay in a dazed heap or leaned on their weapons to catch their breath. Orion and Blake helped up Weiss and Nemo, respectively, or tried to in Orion's case. Weiss swatted his hand away, snarling that she can stand herself up, and stomped away to the locker room.

"Let's wait until she leaves to go put our stuff away," Nemo said as he and Blake walked up to him. The latter shot him a look as she followed her teammate.

Orion looked at the rebel, "What did you say to her?"

"What needed to be said. Guess the truth hurts."

* * *

After Yang's randomized matchup against Sky Lark ended in a near-literal curbstomp within seconds, Ruby walked down to the floor to meet Cardin Winchester, feeling more than uneasy about it. It wasn't so much that she was going to be fighting someone much bigger and stronger than she was, but because she could feel almost all of the eyes in the room focusing on her, not without a good reason though; she was the youngest among her peers, and a team leader to boot.

Speaking of her peers, RWBY, JNPR, and ONAX all rallied, Yang cheering the loudest among them, "YOU GOT THIS, RUBES! FINISH HIM IN ONE HIT!"

"I think she looks a little bit off, Weiss commented, still trying her best to avoid sounding like a sore loser.

Without looking at her, Ren added, "You think?"

Yang stiffened, causing Marian to look over her shoulder at Yang, "What is it?"

"Crap! I forgot that Ruby freezes up in front of crowds." Yang was now wide-eyed and afraid for her sister's well-being. A Ruby who was locked up with stage-fright in the middle of a fight would not fare well at all.

"Wait, aren't you her sister?" Weiss asked with an arched brow.

Jaune glanced in the blonde's direction, "How do you forget something like that?"

"...Shut up, that's how."

"Nice come back," Orion chuckled, and was slugged in the shoulder right after.

Down below, Ruby was indeed having a mental breakdown as Cardin sneered across the arena from her. '_What do I do, what do I do, what do I do? Everyone's looking at me and Cardin's staring me down like I'm an injured rabbit…' she gulped, 'I'm scared! How did I end up fighting in this situation?!_'

Her eyes drifted to the large mace in Cardin's hand, her knack for weapons taking over as she analyzed it, '_That's a handmade, titanium flanged mace. If it hits me, I'm doomed! It looks like it might have a trick too; that red orb in the center looks like Dust, so the trigger must be somewhere near the handle. It doesn't look like it has any mechanical parts either._'

"Hey."

'_With that kind of mass, it can probably crack though a Death Stalker's shell. Conclusion: I don't wanna be here! I want to go home and look at cute pictures of puppies on the net!_'

"Hey!" Ruby was snapped out of her thoughts by her opponent, "Quit your yapping, we can all hear you!"

"Wha-?!" She cried out, unaware that she really was thinking out loud for many to hear. At this point, she was on the verge of tears from embarrassment. "Sorry Mr. Mace Wielder!"

"It's Cardin!" the larger student then began to laugh, "Man, Team RWBY, you guys got one idiot of a leader!"

Yang glowered at Orion, who had moved to keep her from jumping down to absolutely level Cardin, "If he says one more thing or decides to fight dirty, I'm kicking his ass and then I'm kicking yours if you decide to try and stop me!"

"By all means, I won't stop you. Hell, I might join in after this morning's incident." Orion grinned, "I wouldn't worry about it though; Stella's somewhere up there for moments like that."

Yang sat back down and huffed, never taking her eyes off of the combatants,"I'm her sister, I'm supposed to worry."

Behind them, the icy heiress shouted "Ruby! Is that red cloak just for show? All you're doing right now is embarrassing yourself!"

"Or dealing with stage fright, because that's not a real fear or anything," Xienna snipped.

"It's actually very common around the world, too" Ren added.

Ignoring them, Weiss continued "You want to become a Huntress, right? You are the leader of Team RWBY, right?"

Orion messaged Nemo on his scroll, "Whatever you said to her while you two fought must have worked."

'_Good question,_' Ruby let her partner's words sink in when Professor Goodwitch, now accompanied by Ozpin, shouted "Begin!"

Beside him, Yang internalized both hope and scrutiny. Ruby had never really fought one-on-one, even at Signal. At some point she had to put her fighting abilities to use without her big sister to save her...as messed up as it sounds, she won't be there forever. '_Show me all that you are, without me. You're by yourself, there's no one. Show me you can do this, sis._'

Without wasting a second, Cardin brought his mace down and missed as Ruby jumped away from easily read attack. Cardin swung wildly again and got the same result as Ruby dashed away once more. Ruby opened fire with Crescent Rose, hitting him in the chest and engaging in hit-and-run combat.

'_I probably should have wanted to be a normal girl_-' she wondered as she zipped behind him and slashed several times across his back. After he took a swing and missed, Ruby shot once more and hit him in the armpit, knocking him off balance. The next slam down, and Ruby raced up his arm, planted her foot on his face, and kicked off with a backflip.

"Did you seriously just do a freaking flip off of me?" Cardin roared at where she landed, a cloud of rose petals being the only evidence she was there a fraction of a second ago.

BLAM-SHLINK-BLAM-BLAM-SHLINK

"DAMMIT!" Cardin swung back blindly once more, hitting only air.

'_But that isn't me._' Ruby once again weaved through the storm of petals her semblance left behind, using the cover to jab the butt of Crescent Rose into his chest before swinging the blade down on his chest plate. '_So I'm going to continue on at Beacon. Continue swinging Crescent Rose. Together with everyone!_'

SHLINK-SHLINK-BLAM-SHLINK-BLAM

"See, you can do it," Weiss grumbled in the stands. By now Ruby was a blur to most of the crowd, hacking and shooting down the larger Winchester who could only stumble trying to follow her. Several more gunshots rang out and hit him in his blindspots

"Finish him!" Orion shouted, unaware someone on the other side of the stands shouted the same thing. Ruby hooked Cardin's legs and yanked him down,laid in a side-plank across Crescent Rose's snath and pulled the trigger; the shot hit Cardin square in the back, and the recoil sent Ruby flipping and landing it in style. Xienna, Yang, and Nora held their scrolls up with a large '10' as if they were judges while the rest of the students applauded.

"And that's the match! Victory goes to Ruby Rose." the professor turned to staggering student on her left, "Perhaps you can learn something from this, Mr. Winchester. Rushing into a confrontation is not always the answer; sometimes you need to assess the enemy before swinging like a blind man in a broom closet."

Cardin used his mace to push himself up, breathing heavily even to a poorly trained eye."She got lucky. Besides, I wasn't feeling all that great to begin with."

"Could that be because you were too busy antagonizing others instead of actually eating?" The Headmaster added when he heard a loud rumble come from Cardin's stomach. "I thought so. A good meal is always important to any Huntsman, but time that could be spent gaining energy should not be spent wasting it."

Before the knight could retort, Goodwitch cut him off with a glare that would stop a King Taijitu in its place, "Class dismissed."

Ruby was making her way to her team and friends when a voice from the corner of the section of stands she walked past stopped her, "That was an amazing fight you had down there."

Ruby turned and saw another student looking at her. A boy, roughly the same height as her sister with black hair and amber eyes clad in Beacon's attire approached her, "Oh, uh, thank you."

"Really awesome how you fight with that scythe of yours too. Don't see enough of those, which is honestly kinda sad. The name's Jesse. Jesse Burnside."

Just before she could respond, her stomach did it for her and growled loud enough to shock a few nearby classmates. The new boy raised an eyebrow, "You hungry?"

"No, I'm Ruby." Ruby scratched her head sheepishly, "I might have overdone it with my semblance…what are you doing?"

He was digging through his bag until pulling out a rather large chocolate chip cookie, "Here. I was planning on eating it later, but-" Ruby's stomach growled once more, "-it sounds like you need it more than I do."

Before he knew it, the sweet was devoured in a matter of seconds. Judging from the look in her eyes, it hit the spot. "I just realized that was my last cookie. Eh, guess, I'll have to make more later."

"Wait, you made that?" Ruby asked incredulously. That cookie felt she got punched into a sugary plane of existence before falling face-first on Remnant. She inched closer, staring him dead in the eyes, "Teach me!"

"Maybe another time-" He laughed when a huff of agitation was heard a few feet away at the exit and he shot a deadpan glare in its direction. Ruby spotted a trio of boys waiting by the door, one of them with charcoal grey hair and dull red eyes shouting over the crowd "Jesse, c'mon! School's out today and we have to close the S-Mart tonight!"

Another, his hair looking like a flame, shook his head at his teammate. "Relax Ash, you'll have plenty of time to get slapped by the cashiers. Pretty sure Dahlia's still looking to hurt ya some more."

"You say that like it's not a recurring thing, Johnny," The third, this one with spiky blonde hair and electric blue eyes, laughed. "But seriously, hurry up Jesse!"

"Alright, alright, Sturm, hold on." The amber-eyed boy jerked his thumb to the other three, and Ruby couldn't help but notice the sweat starting to pour from his head, "My team's getting antsy about work, and there's a blonde girl standing right behind you who's staring daggers into my soul."

Ruby sighed, "Are her eyes lilac?"

Jesse nodded, "They were, now they're red."

'_Yup, that's her_.' Ruby pinched and rubbed the bridge of her nose with a sigh before looking back up at Jesse, "Alright, uh...maybe we can catch up again some other time, but you should probably go catch up with the rest of...what's your team, again?"

"BAJJ. Maybe when Ash gets a day off that works out, we can all hang out. See ya, Ruby."

"Bye, Jesse, it was nice meeting you!" As BAJJ left, Ruby rounded on her sister, "Seriously Yang?"

"What? I didn't do anything." Yang said with mock innocence.

"You scared him!"

"Hey, I just walked around the corner of the stairway and saw some guy handing you a cookie. What were you expecting me to do, not stare him down?" Yang raised an eyebrow before an impish grin spread across her face "Aww, does Ruby have a cru-gah! Why?!"

"You know what you did. Bad Yang!"

"He doesn't look like a bad kid though, I'm sure dad and uncle Qrow will approve- ow! Stop flicking me on the nose!"

"Uh, hate to break up the sister moment, but Weiss is storming out again," Blake interrupted. Ruby and Yang followed her finger to the storming heiress, as did Orion and the others

Eager to get away from Yang, Ruby volunteered to go after her partner when Nemo shook his head and decided to go instead. "No, I'll talk to her. I'm pretty sure I'm the one she's mad at anyway."

"For what?" Orion asked, masking his curiosity as best as he could.

"Let's just say she and I had a difference of opinion earlier this morning. I don't think the talk we had about it during the match helped any either."

* * *

Orion shrugged, "Just let her be then. She'll come around later during dinner, I'm sure."

"Well, today's been a roller coaster," Yang yawned.

Pyrrha nodded, "Agreed." The two of them had run into each other later that afternoon in the garden and decided to walk and chat, with the day's events being at the front of the conversation.

"Think Cardin's going to try and come after someone else we know?"

Pyrrha slowly turned her head, venom lacing her every word, "Let's pray he's that stupid." The two of them walked around the courtyard for a few minutes until something off about one of the buildings caught their eye. Noticeably, an engraving on the wall next what looked like four separate webs of cracks on the stone floor.

_Team Gents of Teams STRQ &amp; LEAD: We aimed for the bushes_

"Team STRQ...that was the team my parents and uncle Qrow were on! But why does Team LEAD sound so familiar?"

Pyrrha looked at the engraving and her jaw dropped, "No way."

Yang looked at the shocked Mistrali, "What? You know who they are?"

"Know them?" A smile grew on Pyrrha's face, "Team LEAD was a team consisting of both my, and Orion's, parents!"

"You're clowning!" Pyrrha stared at Yang unamused. "You're not clowning? I sensed clowns."

"Well, you're half-right, I suppose…"

* * *

[Many years ago in that very spot]

_"You thinking what I'm thinking, gents?"_

_Taiyang Xiao Long and Dilios Nikos looked at each other, then back at Leonidas. "Aim for the bushes?" Dilios asked, a mischievous smile across his face._

_"I was gonna say that we're probably dead meat for being late to that study session, but hey, it's one way to make an entrance," Qrow laughed._

_"Tai," Leonidas said before they jumped off the tower, "cue the music."_

_"~There goes my hero. Watch him as he goes!~"_

_Down below, Raven Branwen and Atalanta Chalyvas parried each other's strikes, practicing their respective techniques. The two swordswomen, even with just sticks in hand, inspired fear in passerby with their intensity. The other girl, smaller and covered in a white cloak, was reading through the assigned chapters for history against an oak tree when a thought occurred to her. _

_"You two don't think the boys got lost, do you?"_

_Atalanta gave her a reassuring chuckle, "After the last 3 years here, I doubt it Summer. Yeah, the guys are a bit dense, but they can't be that-oh no!"_

_"What's wrong Atalanta?" Summer asked, only to receive no answer as her warrior teammate floundered for a response. Following her gaze, Summer's jaw dropped, "Oh no...wait, is that who I think it is about to-"_

_Raven's red eyes flicked down to the open doorway leading from the campus to the gardens, spotting a certain pair of bear ears belonging to Atalanta's teammate, "This will not end well…at all."_

_"Hey girls, are the guys still not...where's that music coming from?"_

_"~There goes my~ -"_

_SM-SM-SM-SMACK_

_"WHAT THE HELL, LEO!"_

_Leonidas slowly picked his head up from the concrete with a pained grin, "Hehe, hey there Estéri... "_

_The maned leader of LEAD then noticed the mess of food between them, and looked up to see her vermillion eyes burning in anger. "Ehehe, uh...food's on me? Wait what're you-"_

_SPLAT_

_"No,_ now_ it is, and it better be when we go out like we planned to on Saturday." She then laughed as she helped him up and stood on her toes to kiss him on the cheek, "Now come on you clown, we have a history class to study for._"

* * *

"Wow, my dad and uncle always talked like they were the kings of the hill."

"Not if those two had anything to say about it." Pyrrha pointed to the L and D of LEAD, "Never knew their teams knew each other."

"Would make for a hilarious reunion, wouldn't it?" Pyrrha and Yang turned to find Xienna looking up at them, several beads of sweat running down her forehead.

"What's got you burning up, Xienna?" Yang asked.

Pyrrha raised a questioning brow, "And how long have you been there?"

"Maybe a few seconds reading the writing on the wall. And to answer your question Yang, just hanging out with Ruby and Nora like we planned to this morning. We had a race; Nora came in last, and Ruby beat me by half a step."

"Yeah, you might be the only person here with a shot at beating her in a foot race, so keep at it, Xienna. I'm gonna go walk around for a bit...catch you guys later!"

"So long, Xiao Long!"

Yang called back as she walked further away,"That was bad and you should feel bad, Xienna!"

The two had walked and talked from there, mostly about their respective teams within the dorms until a crash broke off their conversation about Nora's antics and Nemo and Ren's shared tidiness quirks. The two ran to the source when a trail of smoke above them caught their eyes.

"Is...is that a rocket locker?"

"It is, and-" Pyrrha's eyes grew wide, "I hear someone screaming inside!"

"Who is it?"

"Jaune!"

Pyrrha's scroll rang, and when she saw that it was Ren, she answered immediately. "What happened?"

"You've got three guesses, and the first two don't count."

Pyrrha growled, keeping her eyes trained on the locker, "Cardin?"

"Nemo reported the incident; I guess Russell had 'tripped' while they were attempting to run away. Team JSPR was sent out to retrieve him."

Xienna watched the locker, worried not just about Jaune, but about the possible team warfare this will lead to after this morning. She was about to walk away when she noticed something odd: the locker was somehow slowing down and descending much closer than it should. "Huh, I guess there's a defective locker the staff needs to look at. I'm sure he'll be fine Pyrrha...Pyrrha?"

The Mistrali was silent, her eyes still focused on the locker. Xienna couldn't blame her; that was her team leader and partner in that locker. If any of the others in ONAX, by some stroke of luck by their attackers, got forced in those lockers like that, she'd feel the same…'_Wait a second, how is it falling so sharply like that?_'

The locker tilted and descended sharply before it reached the peak of its arc, seemingly guided towards the edge of the Emerald Forest. Xienna was more and more convinced someone or something was doing this when she noticed a film of black surrounding the locker. From the corner of her eyes, the same glow of black emanated faintly from Pyrrha's hands.

"What the-"

Pyrrha snapped back out of focus, the locker just as quickly falling. "You saw that, didn't you?"

"It's kinda hard to miss your friend zoning out and guiding a locker down with...magnetism?"

"Can you do me a favor? Can you keep that- my semblance- a secret?"

"A secret?"

Pyrrha looked at her pleadingly, "Please?"

"Doesn't Orion already know, though?"

"Yes, but he and I have also promised each other not to reveal the other's semblance, just as we had with our teammates in Sanctum. Surprise is a key element in combat, so when you have all the aces, you don't bet large immediately...you build up to that final push and then hit them hard."

"I'm guessing it's a Mistral thing?"

"It's a LEAD thing. He and I learned from our parents at a young age before we went to Sanctum. It quickly became an OPAL thing when we worked with Lance and Azura and shared our knowledge."

"And that must have been interesting during the Mistral Regionals. Honestly, I watched those matches every year at Signal, and knowing what I know now about the bond you two have...I envy you."

"Why?"

"I never really had a true friend growing up. All I knew was my family and their employees. Yeah, there were people at Signal, but they were only hoping they could get discounts from my dad's weapons business. I could count the number of legitimate friends on a few fingers and even they had other motives!"

"I'm sorry to hear that Xienna," Pyrrha put a calming hand on the now seething speedster's shoulder. "But think about this: you've made it to an academy, and in the span of a few weeks, have doubled if not tripled that number of friends between both our teams, team RWBY, and some of the other students around campus."

"True. But-"

"Nope. Don't worry about those fair weather friends you had in Signal, or that we'll be anything like them. All of us, we'll all have each others back, you can count on it." Pyrrha's stomach growled loudly, her face reddening with embarrassment, "Would you like to come with me to the dining hall? We can talk some more over a snack if you want."

Xienna smiled, "Sure. Let's get going before there's nothing good left."

* * *

That night, Orion had gone to his usual spot, staring up at the stars on another sleepless night. Out of his team, no one snored louder than Marian, and he hoped by the time he got back he was tired enough to sleep through the raucous. He talked to Jaune about what happened, but Jaune declined to discuss it out of obvious

"This spot taken?"

Orion turned around to find a set of amber eyes glowing from the doorway. "Depends...you gonna share that fish?"

"Do I have to?"

Orion's stomach growled loudly in place of him saying yes. With a roll of her eyes, Blake sat beside Orion and handed him a large filet of fish that he happily took. The two of them sat in the moonlight, eating their midnight snack in silence until Orion decided to break it.

"Sorry if I seemed like an ass earlier. It's just-oh man, this halibut is good- that incident in the dining hall, the constant trash talk against faunus...it had my blood boiling. I _still_ want to punch Cardin in his smug face, but...how come you just let it slide?"

Blake stopped mid-chew, swallowed, and looked at him, her shining eyes now dimming with memories she'd rather forget, "Because I'm not like you. I can't afford to let my heritage show because I've seen how humans treat our kind. It's better to hide in plain sight than throw it out there and get what I've come to expect from people like Cardin."

"But why hide who you really are? Is it out of fear to escape whatever it is you're running from, or shame of what you might've done?"

Blake stopped eating and turned swiftly, staring at him. Despite not looking the part, he was definitely perceptive. "There's...a lot to me I'd rather leave behind."

"Understandable. But sometimes that will always be there, and it will never go away. I've learned that over the last few years, and it's not like I can ignore it...it stares me in the face every day."

Blake immediately wondered what he was talking about until she realized what he was referring to: the scars across his eye. She looked back at her fish, "Maybe one day I can be strong enough to accept it, but for now it's just too fresh in my mind to do that. I think you know that feeling too."

Orion let out a heavy sigh, "It's like that book about the man with two souls...you know which one I'm talking about, yeah?" As she nodded, he continued "A part of me wants to forget, great Oum above do I want to forget, but at the same time, you can never change what happened in the past, y'know."

"There was something I remember reading a while ago on the web, something that I've always thought about. I might have butchered it here and there, but I think it went something like this," she cleared her throat and closed her eyes, a small tear snaking by as she recalled the quote. "The Ghost of Days Gone By will haunt here and there to remind you of your past. It's up to you whether it holds you down, or makes you a stronger, better person. It's one thing to reminisce, but another to let it consume you. So as time runs out, make the best of today because the Days Gone By will always be replaced by the Days Yet To Come."

She opened her eyes, and if she noticed Orion's dropped jaw, she didn't make it obvious. "The past is what molds us into who we become in the future, but me...I won't let it define me. I refuse to let the things I've done be what makes me me. As much as I don't want it to consume me, every day I spend here makes it that much easier to let it do so. Every day I wonder, 'Will this be the day someone figures out what I am?' or 'How will my team react?' 'Will I be forced out of Beacon?' It drives me insane."

When a stray tear fell from her eyes, Orion picked his jaw up, and remembered a quote himself, one he held dear from his parents. "The past doesn't define who you are, it just gives you the starting point for who you're going to be. For what it's worth Blake, I'm sorry, I really am."

"As am I, Orion," the two locked eyes for a brief moment before she held up her remaining bit of food as one would a toast, "To troubled pasts."

Orion picked up his last chunk of fish, "To troubled pasts."

After a few minutes of silent eating, Blake had bid him good night, but before she left, " Blake?"

"Yeah?"

"When I said I was sorry, I didn't just mean for your past." She looked at him quizzically until he said, "That quote you said...I wrote that a few years ago."

"Hm, and here I thought you were just a bruiser with only some creativity," she smiled.

Orion just looked at her, unamused, "Haha, very funny. Words hurt y'know?"

* * *

The next day after class, Orion had decided to look through his text messages until he found his conversation with his father. They had talked about how things were back home, recent missions that Leonidas and the 300 have gone on, Orion's time at Beacon, and more. But when Orion had brought up the recurring nightmares, the legendary Huntsman didn't seem to reply for a while until Orion's scroll buzzed. The message read '_Most things are forgotten over time. Even the war itself, the life-and-death struggle people went through is now like something from the distant past. We're so caught up in our everyday lives that events of the past are no longer in orbit around our minds. There are just too many things we have to think about everyday, too many new things we have to learn. But still, no matter how much time passes, no matter what takes place in the interim, there are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away._'

'_They remain with us forever, like a touchstone. As a man, you will need to learn that the trials and tribulations you come across in life will try to bring you down. No matter what the problem will be, the real pressure will be your ability to handle these problems "head on" while still maintaining your sanity and not to run away like so many men in society do when it comes to responsibility like "being a father". I am proud to be your dad and I do believe you possess the strength to handle these types of problems should they ever cross your path in life!'_

"Whatcha reading there?"

"Gah!" He closed his scroll and put it in his pocket. "How does someone as loud as you sneak around so quietly?"

Nora grinned, "Ren and I would play Ninjas as kids, and I'd say I'm kinda good at it."

"Aren't ninjas supposed to be quiet and stealthy?"

"She's still learning that bit," Ren said suddenly from behind him. "Are you and the rest of your team free for the rest of the day? Jaune wants to do a game night and we were wondering if you would all like to join?"

Nora flashed a devious smile, "I have Cards against Remnant!"

"That's something I haven't played in a while. Yeah, I don't think we have any plans so I don't see why-" his scroll buzzed with a message from his father, "Hold that thought."

He opened the message, "_Figured I'd send you some stress relief. Be ready for a call from Glynda, son_."

'_What is he on about_?' No sooner did he finish that thought that the professor in question called him, "Mr. Arguros? You have a delivery at the airship docks that requires your attention."

"Okay, thank you Professor." He hung up and looked at Ren and Nora, "Sorry, gotta go pick something up at the dock, but yeah, I don't think the others would mind joining you guys for some gaming."

"Thank you Orion. Just give us a call when you're all free and we'll unlock the door."

"Thanks man."

On his way to the docks, he kept thinking about what it could've been that his dad sent him when someone blurted from the gardens, "Hey slugger, where're you off to?"

Orion looked to find Yang walking his way. "Heading to the docks to get something. What're you doing?"

"Nothing, was just enjoying the weather don't mind if I join, do ya?" she asked, already joining him with arms crossed and behind her head.

Orion smiled, internally unsure but positive if he needed to talk, she'd listen, "Sure."

After a few minutes of silent walking minus their fellow students, the two pugilists shared jokes, stories of their times in Sanctum and Signal, and the occasional side glance until they reached the dock for the airships. Orion was stunned with a smile on his face, and for the first time since they'd met, Orion found Yang almost speechless. Both were staring at a dark-but-faded blue chopper with a turbine under its headlight, and two thick bulges of plastic and metal embedded between the handlebars and motor. "I-is...is that what I think it is?" Yang fumbled, eyes wide and jaw agape.

"A Jaeger? Specifically the Mark III Gipsy Danger V2?" Orion gave a devious grin, "Possibly."

Yang was both amused and yet not, "I don't think you understand. I love motorcycles, and I've always been a fan of Hansen-Pentecost, but I've never gotten to see one of these bad boys up close and personal." She rubbed the leather seat and stared Orion straight in the eyes, "Is it really yours?"

Orion nodded, "Yeah. My dad and I built it a while ago during a...rough time in the family. He has one too, a Mark I Brawler Yukon. Whenever I'm feeling down or something, or just need to get out to cool my head, I just take Gipsy here for a cruise and get some air. Wasn't expecting Pop to send it all the way from home."

Yang listened, thinking very much of some of her night rides. A stormy afternoon carrying a red wagon with Ruby inside, the many times she'd witnessed her own father break down...she shook her head of the memories. Orion noticed but decided it best not to ask before the two took the beast of a machine to the student garage. It wasn't what he'd expected, but Yang turned out to be as big a nerd for motorcycles as her sister was for weapons.

"So is it true that the Dust Vortex Turbine can also fire a concentrated blast of heat if needed?"

Orion nodded, "It can, but it also takes a good chunk of fuel to do it so if you're gonna use that, you better have a full tank and make it count. And before you ask, yes, the chainswords do make it like a modern war chariot."

"What about the gyro-stabilizers? Are they as good as they advertise?"

"Their mechanic Tendo wasn't kidding when he said they'd make every ride a smooth one. Hasn't been a road yet that gave that bike trouble." Orion found an open spot, or rather was lead to it as Yang's bright yellow sports bike Bumblebee occupied the space to the left. To the right was another chopper, this one black and grey with a skull-shaped handlebar mount and very skeletal design.

"Can you imagine if that thing was on fire?" Yang thought aloud. "What if the rider got caught on fire too?"

"What, like some kind of Ghost Rider? It'd be a cool party trick on Halloween, but I don't see any other reason for that."

"Good point." Yang shrugged, then gave him a sly look, "Soooo when can I take this beast for a ride?"

Orion grinned, "The same day you let me ride Bumblebee."

"HA! In your dreams, Orion!"

"And there you go." Orion snorted as he walked out of the garage, leaving Yang for one of the few times in her life fumbling for a retort.

* * *

[Later that night]

Jesse was getting ready to close the register down as Ash, Johnny, and Sturm cleaned up around the store. Or at least Ash and Johnny were; Sturm was caught playing air guitar on aisle six. '_Just ten more minutes, Jesse, just ten more minutes_…' he mentally repeated. He occasionally found himself thinking back to that final match between Cardin Winchester and the little speedster Ruby; something about the way she fought brought to mind the way he fought with Dead Master...the way he was taught by-

"Hey kid, ya still there? I'll take these." Jesse snapped out of it to a man with graying black, spiky hair, red eyes, and slight stubble along his jawline. He wore a gray dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants, black dress shoes and a red tattered cloak. Around his neck was a crooked cross pendant and on his right hand were three rings, one on the index finger and two on the fourth finger. On the counter in front of him were two handles of whiskey...very strong whiskey at that.

Jesse sighed, "Paper or plastic?"

"The usual, neither." He opened one of the bottles and took a swig, "Don't forget to meet at the usual place and time to continue your training and lessons. Tomorrow we cover the Schnee Dust Company, so you better get comfortable. It'll probably take twenty hours, and I only enjoy telling it in five minute intervals."

* * *

**Author's Note: 1 year, 20 days, and God knows how many setbacks later, and I finally bring to you all Chapter 8. I thank all of you who have stuck by and patiently waited for this to come out, and also thank my asshole coworker/friend for supplying the caffeine to make this happen.**

**BAJJ (pronounced Beige) is a team of characters that NSZ, a friend of mine from Toho Kingdom, and I created, and Jesse Burnside is an OC briefly mentioned in passing in his own fanfic, _Dark Times at Hellview High! _You may notice a bit of a theme to them, and their profiles will be posted shortly on my bio. And as usual, easter eggs and references for you folks to enjoy!**

**Until next chapter, please fave, follow, and keep those reviews coming to show your support! This is SpanishBulldog63 signing out and saying Happy Reading!**


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